Football legend, Pele has been moved to the palliative care unit in the hospital as the 82-year-old Brazilian is not responding to chemotherapy on his bowel cancer, reported Brazilian Daily Folha.
Pele is admitted at the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo since Tuesday and the last official medical bulletin from the hospital said he was in stable condition.
But, the local daily has reported that the three-time World Cup winner will no longer undergo treatments as he is in end-of-life care.
In spite of this report, Pele’s daughters, Flavia and Kely Nascimento have revealed that the football legend is not close to death after he was admitted to hospital to treat a respiratory infection that was aggravated by Covid.
They said Pele was ‘not at risk’ despite reports claiming he had been placed in ‘palliative care’ after being admitted into the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo on Tuesday.
Earlier on Friday, fans held up a banner wishing a quick recovery to Pele during Brazil’s World Cup group game against Cameroon, which the latter won 1-0 at the Lusail Stadium.
Pele took to Instagram to thank fans for the ‘get well soon’ message projected onto a building in Qatar. In the post, Pele said he is just making a ‘monthly visit to hospital’ while thanking his well-wishers for sending him ‘good vibes’.
Playing professional football since 1956, Pele won World Cup for Brazil in 1958 at just 17 while won it twice again in 1962 and 1970 respectively. The legend scored record 77 goals for the Selecao in 92 games and is widely regarded as the greatest of all time. At the club level, he played the majority of his career for Santos, scoring 618 goals in 636 games between 1956-74. (Photo: LIB)