Summary Football great says he supports Brazilian popular protests as long as they're peaceful.
FORTALEZA (AP) - Pele is being criticized online for telling Brazilians to forget about protests that have swept the country in recent days and focus on cheering on the national team.
Pele said in a television interview that the country should only "think about the national team," prompting Brazilians to flood social media sites to mock his comments.
Pele had expressed support for the nationwide protests in the same interview, but only the part in which he told Brazilians to "forget about this mess that is happening in Brazil" went viral.
He later released a statement reiterating he supports the people s movement, as long as it s not violent.
