Brazilian soccer great Pele has been forced to postpone his Australian tour due to ill health.

Pele is recovering after having surgery in Sao Paulo this week to remove kidney stones just days out from his scheduled trip to Australia.

The 74-year-old was booked to make two public appearances at lunches in Australia next week – in Melbourne on Wednesday and Sydney on Thursday – to honour veteran SBS broadcaster Les Murray’s contribution to the sport over 35 years.

Organisers have confirmed new dates will soon be locked in for 2015 and that all tickets will be honoured and transferred to those amended dates.