Buenos Aires: Outgoing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday declared three days of mourning in honor of three-time Brazilian world football champion Pele, CNN Brasil reported.
“The King” of football passed away at the age of 82 earlier on Thursday. The G1 news portal reported, citing a hospital where Pele received medical treatment, that the cause of the football star’s death was multiple organ failure due to advanced cancer.
Earlier in the day, Bolsonaro passed his condolences to Pele’s family. The president tweeted that the football legend “took the name of Brazil to the world” through football.
“He turned football into an art and joy,” Bolsonaro tweeted.
In September 2021, Pele was diagnosed with a colon tumor. In 2022, he was hospitalized twice for treatment of three malignant tumors and a urinary tract infection. On November 30, 2022, Pele had to undergo non-elective hospitalization with general swelling of the body, including heart failure. Later it was reported that Pele’s body stopped responding to chemotherapy, and therefore palliative care was provided to him.
