Sao Paulo (AFP) – Brazilian football great Pele has been discharged from a Sao Paulo hospital following two weeks of treatment for a tumor and a urinary tract infection, the medical institution said Monday.
The 81-year-old ex-player known as “O Rei” (The King), was “in a stable clinical condition, cured of his urinary infection, and will continue treatment for a colon tumor” after his discharge on Saturday, the Albert Einstein Hospital said in a statement.
Pele, real name Edson Arantes do Nascimento, was admitted to the prestigious hospital on February 13 for chemotherapy for a tumor detected in September last year.
Eight days after he was admitted, doctors detected a urinary tract infection that lengthened his stay.
Pele went under the knife for the tumor on September 4, spending a month in hospital before being discharged to continue chemotherapy.
It is the latest in a string of health troubles for the aging star, whose public appearances have grown increasingly rare.
In 2014, he was hospitalized in intensive care due to another urinary tract infection that forced him to undergo kidney dialysis. His right kidney was removed in the 1970s due to an injury sustained when he was still a player.
In 2019, he had a kidney stone removed.
Pele’s daughter Kely Nascimento has said on social media that he would receive monthly hospital check-ups while continuing his treatment.
Considered by many the greatest footballer of all time, Pele is the only player in history to win three World Cups (1958, 1962 and 1970).
He burst onto the global stage at just 17 by scoring dazzling goals, including two in the final against hosts Sweden, as Brazil won the World Cup for the first time in 1958.
He went on to have one of the most storied careers in sport, scoring more than 1,000 goals before retiring in 1977.
