SAO PAULO, Brazil – Brazilian football legend Pele is expected to be released on today after undergoing prostate surgery, the hospital treating him in Sao Paulo said yesterday.In a statement, the Albert Einstein Hospital said Pele was recuperating well after a transurethral resection of the prostate. The hospital said Pele had been treated for benign prostatic hyperplasia, or enlargement of the prostate, and that no tumours were found.
According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s website, the procedure involves removing an internal part of the prostate gland.
This was the second time Pele, 74, has been hospitalised in six months.
Pele, whose given name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, was released from the same hospital in early December following a two-week stay with kidney problems.
With more than 1 280 career goals, and an unequalled three World Cup titles during his playing career, Pele is considered by many the greatest football player of all-time. (Reporting by Tatiana Ramil; writing by Asher Levine and Brian Winter; Editing by David Gregorio)