KELI NASCIMENTO was my guest on Sports For All guest a few weeks ago. She talked about gender equity, sports diplomacy, her foundation, The Nascimento Foundation, and a guy who was pretty good at football, Pele.
Keli is the eldest daughter of the Brazilian legend and world football icon. One of the greatest to ever set foot on the pitch if not the greatest ever.
Most, if not all countries all over the world have gender equity as an area for improvement. The mother of four told us a story about how Brazil’s media thought Brazil’s women’s football team’s uniform should look like through a magazine cover and I think I speak for all the fathers out there when I say that you wouldn’t want to see your daughter in that uniform representing their country.
You can check it out on google and see for yourself.
The Director and Producer of the yet to be released documentary, “Warriors of a Beautiful Game,” is also a public speaker and the president and founder of the The Nascimento Foundation, narrated to us about the disparity in the FIFA travel arrangements between men’s and women’s national teams.
A serious matter that the world governing body for football needs to look into and address.
A question I forgot to ask Keli in sports diplomacy is have there been times where gender equity took a backseat to maintain a harmonious sports diplomacy with other countries?
From what she told me, her parents did a good job protecting her and her siblings from the limelight and spotlight brought about by her father’s exploits on the football field.
When Pele accepted an offer to play for the New York Cosmos in the mid 1970s, he had to uproot his entire family to the United States where according to Keli, “nobody knew who we were.” In Brazil, Keli says, “we were in a bubble,” which was brought about by her father’s superstardom.
In New York, they were free to roam and walk around without being recognized and my sense from her was they didn’t want it any other way.
Keli is a storyteller of diversity and inclusivity in sports, sports diplomacy, gender equity, and I’m positively sure, a treasure trove of Pele stories from Brazil and all over the world.