Two daughters and one grandson of Brazilian soccer great Pele have said the three-time World Cup winner has been in hospital since Tuesday to treat a respiratory infection aggravated by COVID-19.
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They added the 82-year-old was under no imminent risk of death.
Kely and Flavia Nascimento and Arthur Arantes do Nascimento said in an interview aired on Sunday night (Monday, AEDT) that Pele, who is also undergoing chemotherapy in his fight against cancer, was expected to leave the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo once fully recovered from the respiratory infection.
Neither the family nor the hospital made any prediction as to how long that might take.
The hospital said on Saturday that Pele was responding well to treatment for the infection and his condition had not worsened over the previous 24 hours. The hospital did not issue any statements on the former footballer's health on Sunday.
"He is sick, he is old. But at the moment, he is there because of the lung infection. And once he feels better, he will go home again," Kely Nascimento told TV Globo, speaking via video-link from her home in the US.
"He is not saying goodbye in a hospital at the moment."
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, globally known as Pele, had a colon tumour removed in September 2021, but neither his family nor the hospital have said whether it had spread.
Flavia Nascimento said in the interview that Pele was yet to have a remission of his colon cancer but was now regulating his medication with doctors to keep fighting.
"It is very unfair for people to say he is in the end of his life, in palliative care. Guys, that's not true. Believe us," she said. "He is not in intensive care, he is in a regular bedroom. He is not in risk, he is in treatment."
Newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo reported on Saturday that Pele's chemotherapy was not working and doctors had decided to put him into palliative care. The Associated Press could not confirm that information.
Arthur Arantes do Nascimento said he was debating World Cup matches with Pele by phone, which he believes shows he is fully aware in hospital.
He said his grandfather was moved by tributes that have poured from around the world on the last few days.
Since Saturday, about a hundred fans of his lifelong club Santos had visited the hospital to to hold a vigil. Fans, players and coaches taking part in the World Cup have wished him well by multiple means.
Australian Associated Press