Pele invited to light Rio pyre

Pele has been invited to light the Olympic pyre for the Rio Games on Friday but the Brazilian soccer great is checking with his sponsors to see if he is free to lead the torch ceremony in the Maracana stadium.

"I have a contract that I am bound to fulfil," Pele told Globo TV late on Tuesday, adding that he was consulting the US company that holds the rights to his brand name whether he can take up the invitation from the Olympic organising committee.

Pele later told reporters that International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and the head of the Brazilian committee Carlos Arthur Nuzman had personally asked him to light the pyre and that he would have an answer on Thursday.