A woman who claims to be football icon Pelé’s daughter wants his body to be exhumed for a DNA test.
A woman who claims to be football icon Pelé’s daughter wants his body to be exhumed for a DNA test
Brazilian press has reported Maria do Socorro Azevedo, 60, says she is the late player’s eighth child and is entitled to part of 60 per cent of his assets, which was left to his children.
Pelé – born Edson Arantes do Nascimento – died aged 82 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.
Pelé’s fortune is reported to be worth about £12 million, with 30 per cent of the money left to his widow and 60 per cent to his seven children – and 10 per cent set aside for two grandchildren.
Pelé 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.
However, the attorney representing the late three-time World Cup winner’s widow said the request is “unreasonable” and “unlikely”.
Maria told Record TV her mum never told Pelé she was pregnant with her.
She had initially sought tests in 2019, but Pelé’s health and the Covid pandemic meant a test was not carried out.
Edinho, one of Pelé’s seven children and the man overseeing his inheritance, has said “we have already carried out the tests and it has been confirmed that she is not our sister”.
According to Brazilian newspaper O Globo, he added: “We and she did it in the laboratory and it was confirmed that there is no relationship.”
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