Which Brazilian president declared Pelé an official national treasure in 1961?

Which Brazilian president declared Pelé an official national treasure in 1961? Jânio Quadros did so.

The declaration came as European clubs showed serious interest in signing Brazil’s teenage football superstar. Santos FC received approaches from wealthy teams, including Inter Milan, and Brazilian officials feared losing a national icon to an overseas transfer.

Quadros’s government therefore treated Pelé as a national asset who could not be exported. The measure helped keep him in Brazil, where he continued his legendary career with Santos for many years. It was not a ceremonial award in the modern sense; it was also a practical restriction on his transfer.

The episode is often confused with Pelé’s later international honors. He was a three-time World Cup winner with Brazil, in 1958, 1962 and 1970, but those victories were separate from Quadros’s 1961 declaration. Pelé eventually moved abroad in 1975, joining the New York Cosmos after Brazil’s transfer restrictions no longer kept him at Santos.