Pele hospitalised

SAO PAULO. — Brazilian soccer legend Pele is doing “fine” and was expected to be discharged from a Sao Paulo hospital yesterday after he was admitted for stomach pains, one of his aides said.

The 74-year-old soccer great had to cancel a book-signing at a museum named for him in his native city of Santos after complaining about his stomach on Wednesday.

“He made some tests and will be discharged tomorrow. Everything is fine,” Jose Fornos Rodrigues, the former player’s personal aide, said.

A spokesman for the hospital said that Pele was admitted Wednesday evening but did not say when he would be allowed to leave the facility.

Pele, widely regarded as the best footballer of all time, helped Brazil win the World Cup three times.

He was named “Football Player of the Century” by the world soccer body Fifa, “Athlete of the Century” by the International Olympic Committee and a “national treasure” by Brazil’s government. — AFP.