(BBC) – BRAZILIAN football legend Pele is “recovering well” from a recent
operation, his daughter says.
The 80-year-old had surgery to remove a tumour from his colon earlier this
month and was released from intensive care on Wednesday.
Media reports in Brazil earlier said he was back in intensive care at Sao Paulo’s
Albert Einstein Hospital.
“He is recovering well and within normal range,” Kely Nascimento said in a post
on Instagram.
He had been having treatment at the hospital since 31 August after the tumour
was detected in routine tests.
ESPN Brasil had reported Pele was readmitted to intensive care, while Sao
Paulo publication Folha said he had been readmitted as a precautionary
measure because of his age.
Both Pele’s representatives and the hospital said they could not confirm the
reports.
“I don’t know what is going on with the rumours out there but my DMs are
booming!!!,” his daughter said.
“There’s already a lot of anxiety roaming the world these days and we don’t want
to be the reason for more.
“The normal recovery scenario for a man of his age after an operation like this, is
sometimes two steps forward and one step back. It’s very normal.
“Yesterday he was tired and took a little step back. Today he took two forwards!”
Pele’s health has been a concern in recent years; he had prostate surgery in
2015 after he was admitted to hospital for the second time in six months, and he
was admitted again for a urinary infection in 2019.
Pele is Brazil’s all-time leading scorer with 77 goals in 92 games and one of only
four players to have scored in four World Cup tournaments.
Lionel Messi recently passed him as the leading South American men’s
goalscorer in international matches with a hat-trick in Argentina’s World Cup
qualifying win against Bolivia.
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