Pele rejects allegations

LONDON: Pele has denied updating his Instagram profile after being accused of attempting to overshadow the recordbreaking achievements of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Threetime World Cup winner Pele declared himself the ‘‘leading goal scorer of all time’’ on the social media platform, claiming to have registered 1283 goals.

Official records state the former Brazil and Santos striker scored 757 times during his stellar playing career, from 1956 to 1977.

Juventus and Portugal forward Ronaldo surpassed that number on Monday by moving to 758 courtesy of a brace in a Serie A match against Udinese.

Argentina international Messi broke Pele’s record of goals for a single club by netting his 644th for Barcelona just before Christmas.

Despite disagreeing with the record books, Pele (80) defiantly responded to suggestions he amended his Instagram bio in the wake of Ronaldo's weekend double.

‘‘I was accused by the press of having changed my Instagram bio to overshadow these big stars that are breaking my records,'' he posted on Twitter.

‘‘The bio text has always been the same since I joined the platform.

‘‘None of this should distract us from your incredible achievements.’’

After news of Messi's 644th strike for Barca, Pele's former side Santos disputed the number of goals the Brazilian legend scored for it from 1956 to 1974. It claimed Pele's club tally was 1091 goals, far higher than the 643 officially recorded. — BPA