Pele: Brazil assistant coach asks people to "send a prayer" to legendary forward

Organisers, players and fans astatine the World Cup person expressed enactment for Pele

Brazil's adjunct manager Cesar Sampaio has asked that everyone "send a prayer" to Pele, who is presently successful hospital.

The Brazil great's connection came aft a Sao Paulo paper reported that helium is receiving end-of-life care.

Speaking astatine the World Cup successful Qatar, Sampaio said: "Regardless of your religion we inquire you to nonstop a prayer."

Sampaio, who played astatine Pele's nine Santos added: "He is simply a antheral who has influenced maine not lone arsenic an jock but arsenic a quality being.

"Even being capable to speech to him was truthful hard due to the fact that of what helium represents."

Pele has received regular attraction since having a tumour removed from his colon successful September 2021 and connected Thursday said helium was astatine the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein for a "routine monthly visit".

The infirmary said connected Saturday helium had responded good to attraction for a respiratory corruption and was "still undergoing attraction and remains stable".

It added Pele was undergoing a "reassessment of chemotherapy treatment".

Messages of enactment person been sent from crossed the footballing satellite and Brazil manager Tite shared his admiration for the erstwhile subordinate connected Sunday.

"I was shaking erstwhile I greeted him," Tite said.

"My hands were sweating, my heartbeat accrued and I thought 'wow I'm going to person the accidental to greet Pele'.

"It's thing each of america feel. It's a hard moment."

Former Arsenal brag Arsene Wenger, who is Fifa's caput of planetary development, described Pele arsenic his puerility "idol", adding: "We privation him to retrieve quickly."

• Pele and 1970: How the top subordinate of each clip cemented his legend

• Our sum of your Premier League nine is bigger and amended than ever earlier - follow your squad and motion up for notifications successful the BBC Sport app to marque definite you ne'er miss a moment