Speaking on the BBC's Panorama programme - to be broadcast on Monday evening - Pele criticises the lack of tickets for genuine fans of the game and expresses concern that the tournament is now being run to accommodate big business.

"I feel badly because it's not fair, the people who made the game, the people who stay there, who support the players, don't see the game," he says.

"I worry a lot about the future of football because people forget a little about the pattern of the game, they start to think too much on the business way."

Commercial success

Many tickets for the tournament - which starts when Scotland playing Brazil on Wednesday - have been snapped up by commercial sponsors who have poured millions into the event in search of lucrative returns.

The documentary - to be shown at 2200 BST - also carries an expression of "regret" from Sepp Blatter, the general secretary of football's ruling body, FIFA, about the fiasco surrounding ticket sales.

Sepp Blatter: regret

"We regret this situation but the only thing we can do is ask for understanding," he says, "and to do better next time."

The documentary, entitled "The Real World Cup Winner", reveals concern from many in the game that commercialisation, in particular of the World Cup, has gone too far.

A former FIFA marketing consultant, Patrick Nally, says: "There is a grave risk that the World Cup will almost be dedicated almost exclusively to the commercial supporters because they need a quid pro quo for the money they put in."

But FIFA's president of 24 years, Dr Joao Havelange, whose successor is to be elected on Monday, defends the influx of money into the sport.

"People complain when there's no money, people complain when there is money. I don't know what they want," he says.