Ronaldinho agrees alternative punishment after he's found with altered passport
Former Barcelona and Brazil superstar Ronaldinho was held in Paraguay on Wednesday after entering the country with a fake passport
Posted Friday, March 06, 2020 by Dailystar.co.uk
Ronaldinho will not be charged for possession of an altered passport and has agreed to an alternative punishment.
The retired Barcelona and Brazil star and his brother were detained in Paraguay on Wednesday after entering the country with false documents.
According to ESPN Brasil, Ronaldinho arrived in the South American country for a charity event but was held after fake passports were found in his hotel suite by officials near the capital city of Asuncion.
After being stopped by law enforcement officials they spent much of Thursday helping police with their enquiries.
Paraguay's interior minister Euclides Acevedo insisted that the brothers had not been arrested but were due at the prosecutor's office the next day.
Ronaldinho will not be charged for possession of an altered passport and is likely to face an alternative punishment
And it is now being reported that the brothers have now recognised they committed a crime but said they did so unwittingly.
All parties are now expected to come to an agreement on Friday about the punishment that everyone involved will receive.
"We are looking for an alternative way out of this that doesn't result in a formal accusation and that recognises that these people were, we can say, taken by surprise,” said prosecutor Federico Delfino, the lead official in the case.
A judge will now decide whether to accept Delfino's recommendation on Friday.
If he does, he will rule on the alternative punishment, possibly a fine payable to a local charity.
In July 2019, Ronaldinho reportedly had his Brazilian and Spanish passports confiscated over unpaid taxes and non-payment of fines for illegally building on a nature reserve.
And this latest incident seemingly confirms the fall from grace of one of the best footballers in the world over the last two decades.
The 39-year-old was the 2004 and 2005 World Player of the Year and is most well remembered for his time with Barcelona, where he helped a young Lionel Messi flourish into the first team.
He won the World Cup in 2002 alongside fellow superstar forwards Ronaldo and Rivaldo, and won two La Liga titles and the Champions League at Barca.
Ronaldinho also had stints with Paris Saint-Germain, Flamingo, and AC Milan before hanging up his boots in 2015.
He scored 33 goals in 97 games for the Brazilian national team over a 15 year period.
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