Brazilian court issues arrest warrant for Pele's son on drug trafficking and money laundering charges

Edinho, as the football legend's son is known, is expected to spend 12 years behind bars

Pele is one of football's greatest-ever players (Getty)

A Brazilian court has requested the arrest of Pele's son, Edson Cholbi do Nascimento, for association to drug trafficking and money laundering.

Edinho, as the son of the former footballer is known, has yet to be arrested after Friday's ruling.

The Sao Paulo state court decided that Edinho's previous sentence of 33 years in jail should be reduced to 12 years.

Edinho played for years as a goalkeeper at Santos, his father's former club. He retired in 1999.

The former goalkeeper was sentenced for the first time in 2014, but was appealing the decision.

Despite the risk of imminent arrest, Edinho coached two small teams in Sao Paulo state.

Pele has not made any comments about his son's arrest.

AP