'Expert' Sepp has Pele's backing

Brazilian legend Pele backed Sepp Blatter's re-election as FIFA president despite the corruption scandal embroiling world soccer's governing body, saying it needed an "expert" chief.

"I was in favor," Pele told journalists at Havana airport ahead of a match between the Cuban national team and his former club the New York Cosmos. "We needed an expert guy."

Pele, the only player to win three World Cup titles, closed out his career in the 1970s with the Cosmos, which played Cuba on Tuesday in an exhibition match symbolic of the thawing ties between the United States and its former Cold War foe.