From Multiple Affairs to Goal Dispute: Pele and the Controversies

Brazil legend Pele's name will be etched in the footballing chronicles for eternity.

The footballing stalwart passed away at the age of 82 on Thursday. He was battling cancer for some time and died of multi-organ failure in his native country.

He is a footballing great, with three World Cup wins and multiple other accolades, Pele is one of the worshipped characters of the game and will be remembered as a footballing phenomenon.

But Pele has had his share of controversies in his life. Across an array of aspects, the Brazilian has found things against the tide during his lifetime. From goal-scoring disputes to having multiple affairs, his life has had a fair share of controversies.

Pele's Number of Goals is an Apple of Discord:

According to Pele, he has scored 1283 goals in just 1366 matches with an average of 0.93 goals per game. Pele scored 95 goals with Brazil's national team, but 18 of those came against clubs or combined squads in games which usually are not included in official statistics.

Pele also played 550 unofficial matches as Santos used to play exhibition matches worldwide at that time. Among his goals, there were matches against under-23 teams, combined teams, military events and regional teams.

Uruguay's armed forces, Rio de Janeiro's Athletics' Union were among the teams that he played against. Hence the credibility of his goals are questioned. With a fair chunk of his games played against non-professional matches, a section of critics questions the validity of his goal-scoring stats.

Pele used to hate his name and got a two-day suspension in school for punching a friend

Pele and his numerous Affairs:

The Brazilian legend married three times during his lifetime and had several affairs. His first wife was Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi whom he married in 1966. They had two daughters and one son. They got divorced in 1982.

Pele's second marriage was in 1994 with gospel singer Assitia Lemos Seixas. Together they have two twins through in-vitro fertilization. They divorced in 2008.

His third marriage came in 2016. He married a Japanese-Brazilian businesswoman named Marcia Aoki, who is 32 years younger than him. He had been dating her since 2010.

Apart from these three marriages, Pele was romantically linked with TV presenter Xuxa during the 1980s.

He also had a child named Sandra Machado, who was the daughter of Pele and his mistress Anizia Machado, who was a housemaid. Sandra fought for years to be acknowledged by Pele, but the Brazilian legend declined to submit for DNA tests. A court order finally gave Sandra justice as a DNA test proved she was his daughter. Sandra, unfortunately, passed away in 2006.

How much did Pele earn from his first contract? Know Here

Pele and Politics:

In 1970, Pele landed in hot waters when the Brazilian military started an investigation against him for his leftist sympathies. He was investigated for his potential involvement in a leftist movement that demanded the release of prisoners.

In 1995, he was appointed as the Minister of Sports. Several reforms against corruption were presented during his tenure but he resigned in 1998.

During the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, there was a huge uproar by the netizens internally against the government. Thousands of people were in the streets to protest police brutality. Pele, at that time of financial distress, told people to 'forget the demonstration' and support the Brazil national team.