Ronaldinho Arrested In Paraguay For Holding Fake Passport

Brazilian legend Ronaldinho has been held by police in Paraguay along with his brother Roberto for allegedly holding fake passports.

According to ESPN Brasil, Ronaldinho, 39, arrived in the South American country for a charity event on Wednesday.

Ronaldinho was held after the fake documents were found in his hotel suite by officials near the capital city of Asuncion.

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While the passport carries Ronaldinho’s original name, place and of birth, it allegedly labels him as a Paraguay citizen.

According to ESPN, he remains in custody alongside his brother after being allowed to stay in the hotel and they must report to the prosecutor’s office by Thursday morning.

Another man who accompanied the brothers was arrested who Paraguay’s interior minister, Euclides Acevedo, says they claim “tricked them” as the pair co-operate with investigations.

Ronaldinho is currently without a Brazilian passport because of an environmental fine he received in 2018.

The former Barcelona star and his brother were convicted of illegally building a fishing trap at Lake Guaiba in 2015 without proper licensing in a permanent preservation area.

That conviction saw the duo handed an $8.5 million fine in November 2018 and after failing to pay up, Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice decided to stop Ronaldinho from being able to leave the country.

Despite being unable to leave Brazil, Ronaldinho was unveiled as one of the country’s new ambassadors for tourism in September last year.

During his playing career, Ronaldinho won the FIFA World Cup, FIFA Confederation Cup and the Copa America.

At club level, he played for Barcelona, AC Milan, Flamengo, Atletico Mineiro, Gremio and Paris Saint-Germain.

Also, he represented Brazil at junior level winning the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 1997 and was at the Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008 Olympics Games, where he won bronze in the later.

He was voted FIFA World Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005 and also in 2005 he won the Ballon d’Or.