Football great Pele is depressed, reclusive due to health issues, says son

Football legend Pele is experiencing “a kind of depression” and barely leaves home anymore because health problems have left him unable to walk normally, his son said in an interview published Monday.

“He’s pretty fragile in terms of his mobility... and that makes him suffer a kind of depression,” Edinho said of his 79-year-old father, who has had a series of health problems in recent years.

“Just imagine, he’s the ‘King,’ he was always such an imposing figure, and now he can’t walk normally. He gets very shy, very embarrassed about that,” his son said in an interview published on the sports news site Globoesporte.com.