6th September, 2021
Soccer legend Pele has been admitted to a Sao Paulo hospital for the past six days with an undisclosed health problem.
But news reports said the 80-year-old may not be seriously ill.
An advisor to the former Santos and New York Cosmos forward, Joe Fraga, downplayed the illness in a message mailed to Reuters on Monday.
The Globo news site said Pele was undergoing routine examinations in Sao Paulo’s Albert Einstein Hospital when the undisclosed issue was detected.
Pele’s business manager Fraga said there was no cause for concern.
“Full battery of tests/scans/colonoscopy/blood etc,” Fraga wrote in a message. “He doesn’t do everything in one day.”
The scare came a few days after Pele was forced to refute reports he had fainted.
In an Instagram message accompanied by a smiling picture of the three-times World Cup winner, Pele wrote: “Guys, I didn’t faint and I’m in very good health.
“I went for my routine exams, which I had not been able to do before because of the pandemic.
“Let them know I don’t play next Sunday!”