The son of Brazilian football legend Pele, Edineo, said in an interview on Monday that his father was depressed because of his health problems, and he was afraid to leave the house because he could not walk without help.
Pele, who is considered by many to be the best soccer player in history and will complete his eighty year next October, has had thigh problems for years and is now using equipment to help him walk.
Pele sat in a wheelchair many times that he had recently appeared during public events.
Edenio told Globo TV that Pele "had surgery on a hip replacement and underwent an inadequate rehabilitation process".
He continued, "He suffers from a movement problem that affected his psyche to enter a depressive episode. We have to put ourselves in his place. He was crowned king and he was full of hearing and sight, and now he cannot move easily."
"He feels embarrassed and does not want to leave the house and does not want anyone to see him or do any activity that requires him to leave the house. He became very shy and isolated."
Edenio said he blamed his father for not performing the required physiotherapy after undergoing thigh surgery.
Pele - the only player to have won three World Cup titles - spent most of his career with Brazilian Santos, before moving to New York Cosmos in the 1970s.
Next summer, he will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of his third World Cup title in Mexico in 1970, with a selection that many consider the best in history.