Pele: Woman claiming to be football legend's daughter wants his body exhumed for DNA test

Brazilian media reports Pele, who died in December 2022, wrote in his will that he may have another child. One woman says he had agreed to a paternity test before he died and now wants his body to be exhumed.

Tuesday 23 January 2024 11:56, UK

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A woman who claims to be Pele's daughter wants the legendary footballer's body to be exhumed for a DNA test, according to local media.

Brazilian press reports Maria do Socorro Azevedo, 60, says she is Pele's eighth child and entitled to part of 60% of his assets, which was left to his children.

Pele - whose full name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento - died in December 2022, but it is believed he acknowledged in his will he could have an eighth child, a daughter he never met.

His children had agreed to a DNA test, which returned a negative result, but another test is said to be under way.

Pele had reportedly agreed to take a paternity test, but died before one could be conducted - so Maria's lawyer has requested his body be exhumed.

But the lawyer representing the three-time World Cup winner's widow said the request is "unreasonable" and "unlikely".

Speaking in public for the first time, Maria told Record TV on Sunday that her mother never told Pele she was pregnant.

Maria had initially sought tests in 2019, but Pele's health and the COVID pandemic meant a test was not carried out.

Edinho, one of Pele's seven children and the man overseeing his inheritance, previously said "we have already carried out the tests and it has been confirmed that she is not our sister".

"We and she did it in the laboratory and it was confirmed that there is no relationship," he added, reports O Globo.

Pele's fortune is reported to be worth about £12m, with 30% left to his widow, 60% to his seven children and 10% for two grandchildren.

Pele: Woman claiming to be football legend's daughter wants his body exhumed for DNA test

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