Pele says he’s ‘fine,’ after son spoke of depression
>> SAO PAULO: Brazilian football legend Pele sought to reassure fans on Thursday that he was doing fine, after his son alluded to depression and said the ageing star now barely leaves home.
“Thanks for your prayers and your worry. I am doing fine. I will be 80 this year,” Pele, considered by many to be the greatest footballer of all time, said in a statement.
“I have good days and bad days, which is normal for people of my age.”
Pele has been in and out of hospital in recent years for various health issues.
He never fully recovered from one of his hip operations, leaving him dependent on a walker, his son Edinho said in an interview published on Monday.
“I am not missing my [advertising] commitments on my busy schedule,” said Pele, the only player to win three World Cups — in 1958, 1962 and 1970.
“I continue to accept my physical limitations in the best way possible, but I try to keep the ball rolling.”
In the interview, Edinho said his father is “pretty fragile in terms of his mobility... and that makes him suffer a kind of depression.”
“Just imagine, he’s the ‘King,’ he was always such an imposing figure, and now he can’t walk normally. He gets very shy, very embarrassed about that,” his son said.
The Brazilian great, whose real name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, has only one kidney, after a broken rib during a match forced doctors to remove the other.
Pele’s public appearances have grown increasingly rare with age.
Last April he travelled to Paris for a promotional appearance with PSG and France rising star Kylian Mbappe, but had to be hospitalised shortly after for kidney problems.
In 2014, he was placed in intensive care for dialysis after contracting a severe urinary infection.