TheCable

Brazilian football great Edson Arantes do Nascimento, popularly known as Pele, has married for the third time.

The 76-year-old married Marcia Cibele Aoki, a businesswoman aged 50, on Saturday at a private ceremony in the resort of Guaruja, near Sao Paulo.

The couple have been in a relationship for six years.

At the age of 73, Pelé announced his intention to marry Aoki, a Japanese-Brazilian importer of medical equipment from Penápolis, São Paulo, whom he had been dating since 2010.

They first met in the mid-1980s in New York, before meeting again in 2008.

Marcia Aoki stood by him during his illness in 2014.

The news was released on Pele’s social media channels and Brazilian television showed parts of the ceremony.

In Pele’s words on a social media page, Aoki is his “definitive love”.

In Brazil, Pele will light the cauldron on August 5 at the opening ceremony of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

At the closing ceremony of London Games in 2012, the three-time World Cup winner appeared in Rio’s presentation to promise to welcome the world at the next games.