March 29 (Reuters) - Brazilian soccer legend Pelé has sued Samsung Electronics Co for at least $30 million, claiming that the Korean company improperly used a look-alike in an advertisement that ran in the New York Times without permission.
According to the complaint filed this month in federal court in Chicago, Samsung placed the October ad for ultra high-definition televisions after breaking off negotiations in 2013 to use Pelé's identity to promote its products.
Pelé, 75, is widely regarded as the greatest soccer player ever, and among the world's most famous athletes in any sport.
Though the ad does not mention Pelé, it includes a portrait-sized image of a man who "very closely resembles" him, and a small photo of a soccer player making a "modified bicycle or scissors-kick, perfected and famously used by Pelé," the complaint said.