Brazilian great Pele has been hospitalized in Sao Paulo since Monday as part of his treatment for colon cancer, the medical center that treats him said.

The clinical condition of Edson Arantes do Nascimento is "good and stable, and he should be discharged from hospital in the next few days," the Albert Einstein Hospital said Tuesday in a statement.

Considered by many the greatest soccer player of all time, Pele is the only player in history to win three World Cups (1958, 1962 and 1970).

Known in Brazil as "O Rei", or "The King", the 81-year-old must go to the hospital at least once a month to undergo check-ups and continue chemotherapy against the colon tumor that was detected last September, according to his family.

Before his diagnosis of colon cancer, which led to Pele being hospitalized for a month last year, the former star of Santos and the Brazil team was hospitalized in Paris in 2019 and transferred to Sao Paulo to have a kidney stone removed.