The daughter of soccer legend Pele said yesterday, Saturday, that he has returned home and is “very cohesive” as he is recovering from colon cancer, in a comment that appeared to respond to media reports that confirmed that his health was deteriorating.
Pele, 81, a former Santos and New York Cosmos player, was released from hospital last Thursday after two days of chemotherapy.
Pele underwent surgery to remove a colon tumor in September 2021, and was admitted and discharged more than once from Albert Einstein Hospital in São Paulo in the following months.
Pele’s daughter, Kelly Nascimento, wrote on Instagram that her father is fine.
“I don’t know where this is coming from! I get messages from everyone expressing concern. Nothing has changed,” she added.
“There is nothing new to announce. My father goes to the hospital every month, so such things happen, sometimes he will go twice a month, but nothing has changed. He is at home in good shape, recovering well and is very coherent.”
And the sports network “ESBN” reported last week that Pele had been diagnosed with a tumor in the intestine, liver and lung, but his agent refused to confirm this.
Pele, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, has suffered from a series of health problems in recent years; He has recurring problems and pain in his groin after surgery, and he cannot walk without assistance.