Iconic soccer player, Pele, married his current wife, Marcia Aoki, whom he first met in New York in the 1980s. However, they only began dating when they met again by chance in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2010. They were together for six years before they married in 2016.
Pele is world-famous for his exploits on the soccer field and is regarded as one of the best players ever to grace the game. A two-time FIFA World Cup winner, the legendary Brazilian played with a certain panache and efficiency that epitomized the beautiful game.
Pele proved to be somewhat of a controversial figure off the football pitch, mainly due to his suspected brushes with political actors and his extra-marital affairs. The legendary footballer has been married three times. The first two marriages were filled with a spate of infidelities.
Pele and Marcia Aoki attend the premiere of “Pele: Birth of a Legend” at Borough of Manhattan Community College during the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on April 23, 2016 | Getty Images
Pele Met Marcia Aoki in the 80s
Pele wed his third wife, Marcia Aoki, in Sao Paulo in 2016 after a six-year relationship. The two initially met in the 1980s while attending a party in New York City. However, they only got into a relationship in 2010 after a coincidental meet-up in an elevator that year.
That accidental meeting happened in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where they were both born and raised. Aoki’s father, Paulo, is of Brazilian descent, while her mother, Isaura, is of Japanese descent. Isaura raised Aoki and her brother, Carlos, in her Japanese culture.
The wife of the legendary footballer followed in her parent’s footsteps in becoming an entrepreneur. She owns a company that imports medical equipment. However, despite her success, some people believed that she married Pele for ulterior motives due to their 26-year age gap.
Rosemeri Dos Reis Cholbi Knew about Her Spouse’s Infidelity
Before Marcia Aoki, Pele was first married to Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi. They married in Brazil on February 21, 1966. Their first child, Kelly Christina, was born on January 13, the following year. She was followed by Edson junior, born on August 27, 1970.
A few years later, they relocated to the United States, where Pele had been recruited to play for the New York Cosmos. While there, they welcomed their other daughter named Jennifer in 1978. However, they separated shortly after the move to New York but would still meet from time to time.
The separation was due to Pele’s infidelities that had begun as early as 1968 when his affair with Lenita Kurtz resulted in the birth of Flavia Kurtz. The infidelities continued and ultimately led to their divorce in 1982. In the last moments of their marriage, Pele was linked to television personality Xuxa.
Assiria Nascimento Was Pele’s Second Spouse
After the divorce from Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi, it took another 12 years for Pele to remarry. In April 1994, he married Assiria Nascimento, who was born Assiria Lemos Seixas.
Nascimento worked as a psychologist along with a successful career as a gospel artist. She gave birth to the couple’s twins, Celeste and Joshua, on September 26, 1996. They were conceived through fertility treatments.
This marriage was marked with some loyalty from the global icon as he seemed to have left his infidelities behind. Throughout their marriage, there were never reports of any extra-marital affairs by Pele. Nevertheless, they eventually divorced in 2008.
Pele Has Had Many Affairs & Doesn’t Know the Number of His Children
20th-century soccer legends like Diego Maradona tended to be controversial figures outside their careers. In a Netflix documentary about Pele released in 2021, one of the topics of discussion was his romantic life. The star has a history of being unfaithful in his younger years, and he does not deny it.
In the interview, he acknowledged that, saying, “In all honesty, I’ve had a few affairs, some of which resulted in children, but I’ve only learned about them later.” He also added that his Reis Cholbi knew about his cheating, and he never lied about it.
Although the exact number of his children is unknown, he has six children he has acknowledged as his. Five children came from his first two marriages, and the other from his affair with Lenita Kurtz.
However, many publications claim he has seven children, the seventh being Sandra Machado, conceived during an affair with a housemaid, Anisia Machado. Pele has never acknowledged her as his daughter, but a court ruled that she was his. Sandra, unfortunately, died of cancer in 2006.
