Sao Paulo, Brazil (CNN) — Pele, arguably the greatest footballer in history, was admitted to the Albert Einstein Hospital on Thursday, the hospital said.
Officials didn’t reveal why or how long the three-time World Cup winner would stay there.
Pele, born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, was hospitalized in November at the same facility, where he received kidney dialysis for several days. He was hospitalized for about two weeks.
The 74-year-old icon had one kidney removed during his days as a player, his aide, Jose Fornos Rodrigues, said last year.
Known as “The Black Pearl” and simply “The King,” Pele is one of the best known names in all of sports.
He burst onto the scene as a teenager, helping lead his native Brazil to the 1958 World Cup championship. Pele went on to star on two other World Cup title teams as well, in 1962 and 1970, in addition to a breakthrough career with the Brazilian club Santos and later with the New York Cosmos of the now-defunct North American Soccer League.
In 2000, he and Argentina’s Diego Maradona were named Co-Players of the Century by FIFA, the international soccer governing body.
Even after retiring from football, Pele has remained in the public eye as a product pitchman, ambassador for the sport of football and advocate for Brazil’s poor, having grown up among them in Tres Coracoes.