Poor health prevents Pele from lighting Olympic cauldron

(FILES) This file photo taken on July 22, 2016 shows a handout picture released by the Rio 2016 Olympic Committee of former football player Pele holding the Olympic flame at the Pele Museum in Santos, Sao Paulo State, on July 22, 2016.

Brazil football legend Pele wants to light the Rio Olympic flame at the opening ceremony on Friday, but poor health may prevent him from accepting the honor, his spokesman said on August 4, 2016. Doubts over whether Pele, 75, would be free to carry the torch to the cauldron in the Maracana stadium have been cleared up, spokesman, Jose Fornos Rodrigues, told AFP. The new question mark is over his health.
/ AFP PHOTO / Rio 2016 / Andre Luiz Mello / Rio 2016 / Andre Luiz Mello
Brazil football legend Pele said poor health will prevent him from lighting the Olympic cauldron at the Games’ opening ceremony on Friday as he had hoped to do. “Dear friends, only God is more important than my health!” the 75-year-old said in a statement published by Brazilian media.
“Right now I am not in physical condition to take part in the opening of the Olympics.”

Pele said on Wednesday that the International Olympic Committee had asked him to carry the torch to the cauldron in Rio’s Maracana stadium at Friday night’s ceremony.
He first said scheduling commitments for his sponsors had to be resolved before he could confirm whether he would light the cauldron.
Pele has for years been a celebrity face of credit company MasterCard. One of MasterCard’s top competitors, Visa, sponsors the Olympic Games.
His spokesman Jose Fornos Rodrigues told AFP on Thursday that the scheduling obstacle had been removed but doubts remained about his health.
Pele has undergone several hip operations and walks with a cane.
“In my life I have had fractures, operations, pain, hospitalizations, victories and defeats, but I have always respected those who admire me,” he said in the statement.
“I take responsibility for my decisions. I have always sought not to disappoint my family or the Brazilian people.”
The spokesman said on Thursday that Pele had “muscle pain which is affecting his mobility.”
Pele — real name Edson Arantes do Nascimento — is widely regarded as the greatest footballer of all time.
He won three World Cups with Brazil but never competed at the Olympics.