Pele's family gives an update on Brazil legend's health

Relatives of the iconic former Brazilian footballer have denied reports he is in palliative care at the hospital.

Two of Pele’s two daughters have insisted the 82-year-old is not under any imminent risk of death.

The daughters, Kely and Flavia Nascimento, announced in an interview on Sunday that Pele has been undergoing hospital treatment for a respiratory infection aggravated by a bout of COVID-19.

The former Santos and New York Cosmos forward, who is taking chemotherapy in his fight against cancer, is expected to leave the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo once he has recovered.

“He is sick, he is old. But at the moment, he is there because of a lung infection. And once he feels better, he will go home again,” Kely Nascimento told TV Globo.

“He is not saying goodbye in a hospital at the moment,” she added.

The hospital has also denied reports that Pele’s condition has deteriorated over the past 24 hours, insisting the 82-year-old is responding well to his treatment. However, neither the hospital nor the family, have said whether the colon tumor he had removed in September 2021 had spread.

“It is very unfair for people to say he is at the end of his life, in palliative care,” Flavia Nascimento said

“Guys, that’s not true. Believe us. He is not in intensive care, he is in a regular bedroom. He is not at risk, he is in treatment.”