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Pele

LONDON. — Pele has been rushed to hospital in Brazil after collapsing at home.

The Brazil soccer legend underwent emergency tests after falling ill earlier this week.

Specialists are understood to have diagnosed severe exhaustion as the reason for his ill health.

And the 77-year-old is being kept in hospital on a drip while doctors continue to monitor his progress.

His ban turn came just days after he needed a walking frame to take to the stage in a rare public appearance in Rio.

And it has forced him to cancel a planned trip to London this weekend where he was due to be honoured for his career in football.

The football great has battled ill health over the past 12 months and has been forced to reduce the number of public appearances he has made.

And the three-time World Cup winner (77) had to use a wheelchair when he took part in the draw for Russia 2018 in Moscow last month. The brilliant forward, regarded as one of the greatest to ever play the game, appeared to show he is taking small steps to a recovery as he delighted fans in his native Brazil last weekend. Pele used the frame to help him take to the stage at the opening ceremony of the 2019 Carioca Football Championship in Rio.

But it appears that appearance took its toll on the global icon, and he fell ill in the early hours of Thursday. The former attacker, who won World Cups in 1958, 1962 and 1970, had been due to make an appearance at a Football Writers’ Association tribute dinner this weekend. — The Sun.