Products You May Like
Brazil football legend Pele has re-entered an intensive care unit at Sao Paulo’s Albert Einstein Hospital on Friday, according to ESPN Brasil.
The hospital is not expected to release any information on Pele’s status.
ESPN Brasil said Pele, an 80-year-old, three-time World Cup winner, was re-admitted to the ICU due to acid reflux. He had a colon tumor removed this month and was transferred out of the ICU on Tuesday.
After leaving the ICU, he said in a message to fans on Instagram that he was ready for “90 minutes, plus extra time.”
He went to the hospital for routine exams at the end of August when the tumor was found. The hospital said in a statement then that the tumor was identified during routine cardiovascular and laboratory exams. It added it collected samples to be analyzed but has not released the results.
Pele, the only male player to win three World Cups, has had mobility problems since a failed hip replacement surgery in 2012. He has been forced to use walkers and wheelchairs in public. He has also been admitted to several hospitals in recent years for kidney and prostate procedures.
Pele won the 1958, 1962 and 1970 World Cups, and remains Brazil’s all-time leading men’s scorer with 77 goals in 92 matches. That record had been most all-time for a men’s South American player, when Argentina‘s Lionel Messi reached 79 goals in 153 appearances during a World Cup qualifying match last week.
Reuters contributed to this report.