By SOPHFRONIA SCOTT/Reported by Wendy Cole

If a novelist in Peru can run for President, why not a futebol player in Brazil? Former soccer star Pele has expressed interest in leading his country, though he blows hot and cold on the subject. In Milan last week to play in an exhibition match, Pele said he couldn't stand to see Brazil "so large, so rich and so ruined." Still fit at 50, he also had a few words for younger competitors: "The world belongs to youth, and nobody can change that. But this old man is still going to make them work hard." Then he denied starting a presidential campaign. Obviously he needs to kick that one around a bit more.