The football legend is currently being treated at the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo
Brazil’s players paid tribute to Pele at the World Cup © Sky Sports
Three-time World Cup winner Pele’s cancer has reached an advanced stage, as confirmed by the hospital where the 82-year-old is being treated.
Pele was admitted to the hospital three weeks ago, with national newspaper Folha S. Paulo reporting that he had been moved to end-of-life care due to chemotherapy for colon cancer no longer having its desired effect.
This was denied by Pele’s daughters, however, who claimed that their father had contracted Covid-19 and was being treated for a respiratory infection.
In an update last week, the hospital claimed that Pele was on the mend and had “shown improvement in the clinical status, in particular the respiratory infection.”
Through its latest correspondence, though, the hospital said that Pele “presents cancer disease progression and requires greater care related to renal and cardiac dysfunctions.”
With this week’s news, Pele’s daughter Kely revealed on social media how “our Christmas at home has been suspended.”
“We decided with the doctors that, for various reasons, it would be better for us to stay here with all the care that this new family at Einstein gives us,” she added.
Pele had a tumor removed from his colon in September last year and has made regular trips to the hospital since. At frequent intervals, he has attempted to put fans’ minds at rest by posting messages about his health status to his Instagram account where he boasts 12.8 million followers.
In his last non-promotional post on Monday, he congratulated Argentina for winning the World Cup at Qatar 2022, which he noted was what Lionel Messi’s trajectory “deserved.”
“My dear friend, [Kylian] Mbappe, scoring four goals in a final. What a gift it was to watch this spectacle to the future of our sport,” he added.
“And I couldn’t fail to congratulate Morocco for the incredible campaign. It’s great to see Africa shine. Congratulations Argentina! Certainly Diego [Maradona] is smiling now.”
Pele retired as his country’s all-time leading scorer with 77 goals in 92 games, which has since been equalled by Neymar with an injury-time strike against Croatia in the quarterfinals of the World Cup before Brazil crashed out on penalties.
Brazil’s fans in Qatar paid tribute to Pele, as did the players with a banner that bore his name and picture shown after they beat South Korea 4-1 in the round of 16.
