Brazilian football icon Pele has been in hospital for the past six days with an undisclosed health problem but there is no cause for alarm, the manager of the 80-year-old has said. Pele recently refuted claims that he had fainted.
According to reports in Brazil, the issue was detected as Pele underwent routine health checks at Sao Paulo’s Albert Einstein Hospital.
The three-time World Cup winner recently dismissed reports that he had fainted, reassuring fans at the end of August that was fine and had merely been for routine exams which had been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Guys, I didn't faint and I'm in very good health. I went for my routine exams, which I had not been able to do before because of the pandemic. Let them know I don't play next Sunday!” the star had said on his social media accounts.
Despite the news on Monday of Pele having spent six days in hospital, his business manager Joe Fraga tried to allay fears among concerned fans.
“Full battery of tests/scans/colonoscopy/blood etc,” Fraga wrote in a message, Reuters reported.
“He doesn’t do everything in one day.”
Beloved by millions in his homeland and many more around the world, Pele is widely recognized as among the greatest ever to play the game.
He spent his prolific club career almost entirely at Santos in his homeland, but did have a glamorous stint at the New York Cosmos in the mid-1970s.
At international level, Pele scored 77 times in 92 appearances for his country, helping them to the World Cup in 1958, 1962 and 1970.
In the 1958 victory over Sweden, Pele became the youngest player ever to feature in a World Cup final, scoring twice at the age of just 17 years and 249 days old.
Also on rt.com ‘Unforgettable day’: Football legend Pele gets Covid-19 jab before Brazil icon urges people to ‘keep discipline to preserve lives’Perhaps unsurprisingly given his advanced years, Pele has faced health issues in recent years.
He was pictured in a wheelchair when meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and a month later collapsed from exhaustion and was admitted to hospital.
A urinary tract infection caused another spell in hospital in 2019, while last year Pele’s son Edinho claimed his father was depressed because of his health and unable to walk independently.
Pele later denied those claims, saying he was “good.”
“I continue to accept my physical limitations in the best way possible but I intend to keep the ball rolling,” said the Selecao icon.
“I have good days and bad days. That is normal for people of my age. I am not afraid, I am determined, confident in what I do.”
Also on rt.com 'He's pretty fragile': Football legend Pele 'embarrassed' to leave house amid ill-health concerns, son says