Football icon Pele to be discharged from hospital today

Sao Paulo, May 9: Brazilian football legend Pele will leave hospital today after recovering well from prostate surgery, doctors said, following his latest health scare. The 74-year-old underwent surgery Tuesday at Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo, the same facility that treated him last year for a severe urinary tract infection.
“His release is scheduled for tomorrow but there is no specific time,” the hospital said in a statement Friday, stressing Pele was making a “good recovery” and tests showed no signs of cancerous tumors. A close friend and advisor, Jose Fornos Rodrigues, told AFP that his surgery — a transurethral resection of the prostate, or TURP — “was a very simple procedure.” “Everything is going well with Pele, he is resting,” the aide said. Media reports said the surgery for an enlarged prostate — a common condition in aging men — was aimed at preventing a repeat of the urinary infection that sent Pele to the hospital last year. The global sports icon has suffered a number of health crises in recent months.