Pele was paid $120,000 to tie his laces in World Cup game

As one of the best and most famous footballers around, late Brazilian legend Pele made a whole of money from his decorated career.

But the easiest paycheck of his career came on 14 June 1970.

FIFA's player of the 20th century was the biggest player in his era and as such was a man in demand when it came to brands.

In the peak of his powers, both Adidas and Puma were desperate to tie Pele down and there was quite the battle for his services.

However, it was the latter brand who he was associated with during his glittering career.

Back in 1924 brothers Adolf and Rudolf Dassler set up a shoe company from their mother's laundry room and it proved to be a huge success.

They ended up going their separate ways in 1949, leading to Adolf creating Adidas and Rudolf setting up rivals Puma.

Understandably, both had their eyes firmly on signing Pele when he was one of the most popular people on the planet.

According to Joe Pompliano, the three-time World Cup winners was too expensive to sign up to begin with and a 'Pele pact' was created whereby both swore to not go after the world's most famous athlete.

But Puma were feeling delicious and broke that pact in at the World Cup in Mexico.

They paid Pele a massive $120,000 fee for him to wear their boots for the quarter-final against Peru in Guadalajara.

Inn a genius marketing move, they requested that he asked the referee for some time to tie his laces in the semi-circle mere moments before kick-off.

Puma then forked out for a cameraman to zoom in to get the close-up money shot and they proceeded to see record annual sales that year.

Brazil beat Peru 4-2 and went all the way, with Pele scoring in a 4-1 win over Italy in the final to seal a historic third World Cup.

Adidas were reportedly furious with the play and so a business war ensued, though these days both are billion pound companies who lead the way in sports and fashion.

Pele sadly passed away a year ago at the age of 82 but his legacy in the beautiful game will forever live on.

Featured Image Credit: FIFA & Alamy

Topics: Pele, Brazil, PUMA, Adidas

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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