Pele back in hospital in Brazil after flying home

Pele arrived back in Brazil on yesterday after five days in a Paris hospital and was taken to another hospital in his home country for further exams.

The 78-year-old football great is recovering from a urinary infection.

Doctors at the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo said in a statement that Pele’s “infection has been quelled” and that he is in good shape.

The three-time World Cup winner landed in Sao Paulo shortly after 6am. Sitting in a wheelchair while wearing a black jacket and carrying his bag on his lap, Pele said upon arrival he was thankful to fans that called to wish him well.

“Once more, thank God it was all fine,” Pele said at the airport.

On Monday, Pele said in a statement that he had undergone surgery in France for “a

0 Pele arrives at Guarulhos International Airport, near Sao Paulo, after flying in from Paris where he had been treated for an infection.

severe urinary infection,” but offered no other details.

Pele has been frequently hospitalised over the last few years for kidney and prostate procedures

and was under care in Paris since last Wednesday.

He was taken to the hospital after an event with Kylian Mbappe, the France forward

who has drawn comparisons with the Brazilian great after helping his country win the World Cup last year as a teenager. In November 2014, Pele

was in a hospital in Sao Paulo for two weeks, including some time in intensive care, also because of a urinary tract infection.