Pele checks if he can light Olympic flame

Pele has been invited to light the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony but says he is checking with his sponsors to see if he is free to lead the torch ceremony.

"I have a contract that I am bound to fulfil," football legend Pele told Globo TV on Tuesday night, 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.

"As a Brazilian, I'd love to do it," said 75-year-old Pele, who helped Brazil win the World Cup three times and would be launching the Games in the Maracana Stadium where he scored his 1000th goal in 1969.

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 on Friday and that he would have an answer on Thursday.

He said he would have to cancel a trip organised by his sponsors.