Football legend Pele acknowledged his ‘secret’ daughter in his will after denying she was his all his life, it has been revealed.
The Brazilian football icon had previously refused to admit he was Sandra Regina’s father, leaving her heartbroken when she died 17 years ago.
Despite this, the 82-year-old asked to meet her two sons and spoke to them in person for the first time on December 28, just a day before his death.
It has now emerged that he gave the couple part of his multi-million dollar estate after eventually naming Sandra as one of his seven children in his will.
Pele, pictured here in 2014, died in Brazil on December 29 at the age of 82 after suffering multiple organ failure
Sandra Regina, pictured, was one of Pele’s seven children, but he refused to admit he was their father
This ended a family drama that had plagued the three-time world champion for decades. Her children, Octavio Felinto Neto and Gabriel Arantes do Nascimento, said their mother’s dream had come true.
The Mirror reports of Gabriel: “I spoke to my aunts and they said that our grandfather wanted to see us.
“We were very excited, it was an opportunity we had been waiting for. Every family has fights and arguments, ours is no different, but there are moments when union and love are more important than anything else. We are very happy.”
Sandra, who died of cancer in 2006, was born after Pele had an affair with his cleaning lady, Anisia Machado.
Ms Machado struggled for years to get him to admit he was the father, but he refused to do so even after a DNA test proved he was.
Sandra won the right to use Pele’s surname Nascimento in 1996 after a five-year legal battle.
When Pele died last month after a long battle with cancer, he passed on an estate believed to be worth around £13million.
The global icon had three children from his first marriage, twins from his second and two children, including Sandra, from affairs.
He married his first wife Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi in 1966 and they had two daughters – Kelly and Jennifer – and a son, Edson.
Pelé, who celebrated a goal here in the 1970 World Cup final, was a global football icon
A packed Hillsborough watches as Sheffield Wednesday take on Pele’s Santos in a friendly in February 1972
Pele’s widow Marci Aoki and his son Edinho are pictured in a tearful embrace as they say goodbye to the football legend
The son, known as Edinho, was sentenced in 2014 to 33 years in prison for money laundering and drug trafficking, but that was reduced to 12 years and 10 months on appeal.
His first marriage ended in 1982 and for several years Pele was romantically involved with TV presenter Xuxa, who was just 17 when they met.
But in April 1994 he married psychologist and gospel singer Assiria Lemos Seixas, who gave birth to twins Joshua and Celeste in 1996.
He recognized his other illegitimate daughter, Flavia Kurtz, whom he had in 1968 after an affair with journalist Lenita Kutz.
He once said in an interview that he had “a normal youth and experienced many adventures” when asked in an interview.
He married his third wife, Marcia Aoki, who was 32 years his junior, in 2016 after six years of dating.
He was survived by his sister Maria and his 100-year-old mother Celeste, who “did not know” her son had died in the days that followed.
Pele’s body was displayed in a 24-hour wake at Vila Belmiro, the stadium of Brazilian soccer club Santos, where he spent most of his career.
Thousands of people lined up to pay their respects to the man who has become the face of world football for three decades.
The coffin arrived before the doors opened to the public, with Pele’s son Edinho serving as one of the pallbearers. Funeral workers placed a veil over him and Edinho was pictured placing his hand on his father’s forehead and saying a prayer in the moments before the wake began.
Pele’s widow Marcia Aoki was pictured putting a cross pendant on her husband’s body and was later seen hugging Edinho.