Pele fears calmed after hospital raises concerns for football great
PELE’S camp played down concerns over the health of the Brazilian three-time World Cup winner, widely considered football’s greatest ever player, after doctors said his condition had deteriorated.
A statement from the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo said the 74-year-old had been moved to a “special care” unit three days after being admitted with a urinary tract infection.
But Pele’s spokesperson Jose Fornos Rodrigues said the iconic sportsman had been moved to “a calmer area” because he had been receiving too many visitors. “He is fine,” Fornos Rodrigues said. “He should be out of the hospital in a few days.”
Pele, whose full name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, underwent surgery to remove kidney stones earlier this month.
He scored a world record 1,281 goals in 1,363 games and 77 in 91 appearances for Brazil, winning the World Cup in 1958, 1962 and 1970.