Legendary Brazil footballer Pele’s family gathered at the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo for Christmas. According to Sky Sports, doctors have said that Pele’s cancer has advanced, adding that he needs care round the clock for renal and cardiac dysfunction.


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His family said the football legend, who has been admitted to the hospital since late November, will stay there over the Christmas weekend. Pele has been receiving regular medical treatment ever since the removal of a tumour from his colon in September 2021.


“Almost all of them. Merry Christmas. Gratitude, love, togetherness, family. The essence of Christmas. We thank you all for all the love and light you send,” his daughter Kely Nascimento wrote on Instagram with a picture of their family in the hospital.


Pele’s son Edinho, who played in goal for Santos in the 1990s, posted a picture of himself holding his father’s hand to Instagram on Saturday, with the caption: “Father... my strength is yours.”



Pele is widely considered one of the greatest to ever set foot on a football pitch. Pele made his FIFA World Cup debut back in 1958. The then 17-year-old played a big role in his side’s triumph in that tournament.


Injuries affected Pele’s form in the 1962 and 1966 World Cup final, but he led Brazil to their third triumph in 1970. Officially, Pele scored 757 goals in 831 games spread across a glittering two-decade career from 1957-77. Though, his club Santos has claimed his tally to be closer to 1,000.


The hospital has not mentioned any signs of Pele’s recent respiratory infection, which was aggravated by COVID-19. Newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported last weekend that Pele’s chemotherapy was not working and that doctors had decided to put him on palliative care. Pele’s family denied that report.