Brazil Football Legend Pele’s Family Gather at Hospital Bedside

In this file photo taken on March 09, 2014, Brazilian football legend Pele poses with the FIFA World Cup trophy during a press conference, outside the Hotel de Ville in Paris. (AFP)
In this file photo taken on March 09, 2014, Brazilian football legend Pele poses with the FIFA World Cup trophy during a press conference, outside the Hotel de Ville in Paris. (AFP)
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Brazil Football Legend Pele’s Family Gather at Hospital Bedside

In this file photo taken on March 09, 2014, Brazilian football legend Pele poses with the FIFA World Cup trophy during a press conference, outside the Hotel de Ville in Paris. (AFP)
In this file photo taken on March 09, 2014, Brazilian football legend Pele poses with the FIFA World Cup trophy during a press conference, outside the Hotel de Ville in Paris. (AFP)

Brazilian football legend Pele's family members gathered at the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo on Saturday, where the 82-year-old, widely considered one of the greatest footballers of all time, has been since late November.

Doctors said this week that Pele's cancer had advanced and that he requires care related to renal and cardiac dysfunction. His family said he would remain in a Sao Paulo hospital over Christmas.

Pele has received regular medical treatment since a tumor was removed from his colon in September last year.

"Almost all of them. Merry Christmas. Gratitude, love, togetherness, family. The essence of Christmas. We thank you all for all the love and light you send," his daughter Kely Nascimento wrote on Instagram with a picture of their family in the hospital.

Pele's son Edinho, who played in goal for Santos in the 1990s, posted a picture of himself holding his father's hand to Instagram on Saturday, with the caption "Father... my strength is yours."



Trump Says he Will Pardon Baseball Great Pete Rose

FILE PHOTO: Former baseball player Pete Rose attends a book-signing session of his new book "My Prison Without Bars," in New York, January 9, 2004. REUTERS/Peter Morgan
FILE PHOTO: Former baseball player Pete Rose attends a book-signing session of his new book "My Prison Without Bars," in New York, January 9, 2004. REUTERS/Peter Morgan
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Trump Says he Will Pardon Baseball Great Pete Rose

FILE PHOTO: Former baseball player Pete Rose attends a book-signing session of his new book "My Prison Without Bars," in New York, January 9, 2004. REUTERS/Peter Morgan
FILE PHOTO: Former baseball player Pete Rose attends a book-signing session of his new book "My Prison Without Bars," in New York, January 9, 2004. REUTERS/Peter Morgan

US President Donald Trump said on Friday he would pardon baseball great Pete Rose, criticizing Major League Baseball for barring the all-time hit champion from the sport's hall of fame for gambling.

Rose, who died last year at 83, was banned from baseball for life. He admitted in 2004 that he had bet on games, though never against his own team.

"Over the next few weeks I will be signing a complete pardon of Pete Rose, who shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on his team winning," Trump posted on Truth Social.

"He never betted against himself, or the other team. He had the most hits, by far, in baseball history, and won more games than anyone in sports history."

Trump did not say what the pardon would cover, as Rose was not convicted of a crime, Reuters reported.

In 2017 the Philadelphia Phillies canceled a ceremony to honor Rose after allegations surfaced that he had had a sexual relationship in the 1970s with a girl before she turned 16. He said she was 16, the age of consent, at the time, ESPN reported.

Rose, who spent most of his 1963-1986 career with the Cincinnati Reds, won the World Series three times and leads Major League Baseball's all-time charts in hits, games played, at-bats, singles and outs.