Rio de Janeiro (AFP)
Pelé, a living football legend, wanted to reassure his fans by assuring Thursday that he was "well" after comments from his son saying that he lived "reclusive" and suffered "from some form of depression".
"Thank you for your prayers and your concern. I'm fine. I'm going to celebrate my 80th birthday this year. I have good days and others not so good, it's normal for people my age," said the King. football in a press release.
"I am not afraid, I am determined and I have confidence in myself (...) I do not avoid honoring the commitments of my very busy agenda", continues the triple world champion.
In an interview published on Monday on the site Globoesporte.com, his son Edinho said that his father's morale was down, affected by hip problems preventing him from walking normally.
"He is quite fragile in terms of mobility (...), which means that he suffers from a form of depression," said Pelé's son.
"You imagine, he is the King, he has always been such an imposing figure and today he can no longer walk normally (...) He is ashamed, he does not want to go out, go to the street. He is withdrawn, lives reclusive, "he added.
Public appearances of Pelé, considered by many to be the greatest footballer in history, are increasingly rare.
In April 2019, he went to Paris to participate in a promotional operation with the French prodigy Kylian Mbappé, but had to be hospitalized due to kidney problems.
Pelé has only had one kidney since the days when he was still a player. A broken rib during a match damaged his right kidney, which was eventually removed.
At the end of 2014, he had already been the victim of a serious urinary tract infection and placed in intensive care and on dialysis.
Former goalkeeper of Santos, his father's historic club, Edinho, 49, had many problems with the law, making several trips back and forth in prison after being sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment for money laundering from smuggling drug.
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