Former Brazilian football star Pelé has been hospitalized since Tuesday in a Sao Paulo hospital for a reevaluation of his cancer treatment, the medical center said Wednesday.
Pele, 82, “is in full control of his vital functions” and has a “stable clinical condition”, according to the medical report of the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein.
The legendary ‘shirt’ 10 of the national team was admitted on Tuesday for a “re-evaluation of the chemotherapy treatment of the colon tumor identified in September 2021,” the medical team said.
After the check-up, Pelé was taken to “a common room, without the need to be admitted to a semi-intensive care unit or ICU,” the bulletin states.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pelé, periodically visits the hospital to receive chemotherapy as part of the treatment for cancer detected in 2021.
‘O Rei’ underwent surgery last year for the removal of a tumor in the colon detected in routine checkups.
No surprise, no emergency
Two of the former ‘Seleçao’ striker’s daughters had previously confirmed his hospitalization, reassuring about their father’s condition following media reports that his health had deteriorated, failing to react to treatment.
“The media is going crazy again and I want to calm things down a bit. My father is hospitalized (…) no surprise or emergency,” Kelly Nascimento wrote on Instagram.
“I’m not getting on any flights to run there (Sao Paulo). My brothers are in Brazil visiting and I’m going for New Year’s,” added Pele’s daughter, who lives in the United States.
On her side, Flavia Arantes Nascimento, another of the Brazilian idol’s daughters, complained in a video posted on Instagram about “the evil media that anticipate and create facts that do not exist.”
She assured that “everything is fine!”, and clarified that her father “is undergoing tests, as always, following the evolution of the cancer he has”.
In recent days, Pelé has been active on social networks, his usual means of communication, wishing him luck and accompanying the matches of the ‘Seleçao’, which is seeking the hexacampeonato in the World Cup in Qatar.
In Doha, the ‘Canarinha’ winger Alex Telles referred to the ‘verdeamarelo’ referent in a press conference at the Grand Hamad stadium, Brazil’s training headquarters: “I ask God to bless his life and that he can continue getting stronger and stronger with us (…) Everything will be fine”.
