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Brazil legend Pelé denies hospital reports he is in intensive care Brazil legend Pelé denies hospital reports he is in intensive care
(about 9 hours later)
Pelé said on Thursday that he is not seriously ill, easing fears that his health deteriorated while being treated for a urinary tract infection. The 74-year-old used his official Twitter account to deny widespread reports that said his condition worsened and that he was put in intensive care. The Brazil football legend Pelé was yesterday moved to a special care unit of São Paulo hostpital where he being treated for a urinary infection.
“I want to take this opportunity to let you know that I am doing fine,” he said. “I was not put into intensive care today, I was simply relocated to a special room within the hospital for privacy purposes only.” The Brazilian website globo.com quoted a Pelé adviser, Jose Fornos Rodrigues, as saying that the 74-year-old was “doing fine” and could be discharged as early as Friday.
Pelé successfully underwent surgery to remove kidney stones on 13 November, but he was readmitted to the hospital on Monday after being diagnosed with the infection. The three-time World Cup winner has been hospitalized since then. “The problem was that he was receiving too many visitors and that wasn’t helping, so they transferred him to a calmer area to continue receiving the proper treatment,” Rodrigues told the Associated Press.
“I am blessed to receive your love and support, and thank God this is nothing serious,” he said. “I am looking forward to spending the upcoming holidays with my family, and will start the new year with renewed health, with many international trips already planned! Thank you!” The hospital earlier sparked a scare by announcing that Pelé had been taken to a special care unit because of “medical instability”. That led to reported that the former striker’s condition had worsened but the hospital stated that he was not in intensive care.
Pelé’s manager had already said that the former player was expected to make a “quick and full” recovery from the “minor” infection caused by the kidney stones surgery. Paul Kemsley said in a statement that reports about the deterioration of Pelé’s condition and about him going into intensive care “were greatly exaggerated.” Pelé was admitted to Albert Einstein hospital on Tuesday with a urinary infection, two weeks after undergoing kidney surgery there for the removal of stones.
“He was relocated to a special area of the hospital for privacy purposes only, due to having an overwhelming number of visitors which prevented him from getting the necessary care and treatment,” he said. “He is expected to make a quick and full recovery.” The Brazilian website UOL quoted medical sources stating that the urinary infection was a normal development following the kidney surgery.
The Albert Einstein hospital released a statement earlier in the day saying Pelé was transferred to a “special care” unit after his condition became unstable. The statement created a scare in Brazil, with local media widely reporting that his condition had worsened. News of Pelé’s medical troubles have worried fans in Brazil and abroad. In recent months the former player has reduced his number of personal appearances, although his absence from the World Cup was more related to his difficult relationship with the Brazilian FA.
“He is fine,” Jose Fornos Rodrigues, Pelé’s spokesman and personal aide said. “The problem was that he was receiving too many visitors and that wasn’t helping, so they transferred him to a calmer area to continue receiving the proper treatment. He should be out of the hospital in a few days.” Pelé previously underwent surgery in November 2012, having a hip replacement at a time when he was struggling to cope with life on the road.
The hospital later released another statement saying that Pelé’s condition “improved” but for the first time mentioned that he was in “an intensive care unit” and temporarily undergoing kidney support treatment. The hospital’s press office had previously denied that Pelé was in intensive care, and his tweets came after the hospital’s latest report. Journalists doorstepping Pelé in January, when he attended the Ballon D’Or ceremony, were taken aback by how frail he looked. It was particularly striking given that Pelé has always looked far younger than his age.
Pelé won three World Cups as a player – in 1958, 1962 and 1970 – over a 14-year international career and was a joint winner, with Argentina’s Diego Maradona, of Fifa’s award for the player of the 20th century.
He is not, though, universally loved in Brazil. His outspokenness often landed him in trouble and open criticism of fellow footballers irked colleagues enough for the 1994 World Cup winner Romário to say that “Pelé is a poet when he is quiet”.
There was little sympathy either for his perceived drive for business deals and commercial endorsements that reached the peak of ludicrousness when he advertised erectile dysfunction medicine.
More recently Pelé’s perceived dismissal of the anti-World Cup protests that shook Brazil in 2013 also generated outrage.
Nonetheless the honorary Ballon D’Or received by “the King” this year in Zurich was celebrated by the Brazilian media.