Brazil’s soccer great Pele underwent surgery on Saturday to remove a tumour in his colon, according to a social media post on Monday by the sports legend, who has been in hospital for six days. He is reported to be stable.

“Last Saturday I underwent surgery to remove a suspicious lesion in the right colon,” the post said. “The tumour was identified during the tests I mentioned last week.”

Pele’s business manager Joe Fraga had earlier said there was no cause for concern.

The scare came a few days after Pele was forced to refute reports he had fainted.

In an Instagram message accompanied by a smiling picture of the three-time World Cup winner, Pele wrote: “Guys, I didn’t faint and I’m in very good health.”