Brazilian football legend Pele is “recovering well” from a recent operation, his daughter says.
The 80-year-old had surgery to remove a tumour from his colon earlier this month and was released from intensive care on Wednesday.
Media reports in Brazil earlier said he was back in intensive care at Sao Paulo’s Albert Einstein Hospital.
“He is recovering well and within normal range,” Kely Nascimento said in a post on Instagram.
He had been having treatment at the hospital since 31 August after the tumour was detected in routine tests.
ESPN Brasil had reported Pele was readmitted to intensive care, while Sao Paulo publication Folha said he had been readmitted as a precautionary measure because of his age.
Both Pele’s representatives and the hospital said they could not confirm the reports.
“I don’t know what is going on with the rumours out there but my DMs are booming!!!,” his daughter said.
“There’s already a lot of anxiety roaming the world these days and we don’t want to be the reason for more.
“The normal recovery scenario for a man of hid age after an operation like this, is sometimes two steps forward and one step back. It’s very normal.
“Yesterday he was tired and took a little step back. Today he took two forwards!”
Pele’s health has been a concern in recent years; he had prostate surgery in 2015 after he was admitted to hospital for the second time in six months, and he was admitted again for a urinary infection in 2019.
Pele is Brazil’s all-time leading scorer with 77 goals in 92 games and one of only four players to have scored in four World Cup tournaments.
Lionel Messi recently passed him as the leading South American men’s goalscorer in international matches with a hat-trick in Argentina’s World Cup qualifying win against Bolivia.
