Pele embarks on global sponsor tour after renal failure recovery

Pele is going on a world tour on behalf of sponsors four months after kidney failure left him hooked up to a dialysis machine in a Brazilian hospital intensive care unit.
The 74-year-old, the only person with three World Cup winner’s medals, will travel to Britain, China and Australia to promote companies including sandwich chain Subway.
Pele suffered renal failure in December after contracting a hospital bug following surgery to remove kidney stones. Known as “O Rei” or the King in Brazil, he spent two weeks in Sao Paulo’s Israelita Albert Einstein hospital.
“Thanks to God I’m already fine,” Pele said by phone from London, where he was attending an event for Subway. “I’m already able to travel again and for that reason I’m here giving hugs to my friends in England.”
Pele, whose 21-year career ended in 1977 with a stint at the New York Cosmos, remains a popular figure for endorsers and is part-owner of a New York-based company that controls his commercials agreements. In the lead-up to last year’s Brazil World Cup, Pele was signed up to be a pitchman for companies including Swiss watchmaker Hublot SA, Procter & Gamble Co., Volkswagen AG and Emirates airline.
Pele was set to travel north from London to attend Liverpool’s game with Manchester United yesterday. From there, he heads to Australia and China.
He said experience gained touring with his former team Santos and the Brazilian national squad lets him know what to expect from his itinerary.
“It’s not changed very much from when I played football,” he said.
Pele joked that his health has improved to the point that he’d like to be picked as one of the three overage players eligible to represent Brazil in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. He’d pick two other former Santos players, Neymar and Robinho, to line up alongside him. When Pele was active, professionals were not allowed to participate in the Olympics.
“I’ll prepare myself now, stay physically fit to play in the Olympics for Brazil,” Pele said.
Pele, who won the World Cup in 1958, 1962 and 1970, was named Football Player of the 20th Century by soccer governing body FIFA and Athlete of the 20th Century by the International Olympic Committee. Tariq Panja, Bloomberg