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Tuesday, March 17, 2020 at 00:00
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A greater contrast between one of the most legendary El Clásico’s ever and a game of football on a sandy side field of a prison is almost impossible to imagine. However, the name of Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, better known as Ronaldinho, will continue to be associated with these two games forever. More than fourteen years after receiving a standing ovation from the public at the Santiaga Bernabéu for his role in one of the squatters between Barcelona and Real Madrid, one of the greatest footballers of all time has been behind bars in Paraguay. This is where he ended up after a series of scandals and dubious decisions, culminating in an arrest after entering the South American country with a false passport.
By Robin Bruggeman
Ronaldinho was perhaps the best footballer in the world at the time of his peak. The Porto Alegre-born ball wizard was brought to Europe by Paris Saint-Germain in 2001 and two years later, the move to Barcelona followed. In Catalan service he won two league titles and the Champions League and in the same year as the above Clásico, at the end of 2005, he also received the Ballon d’Or. In addition to his activities on the field, Ronaldinho also made headlines several times due to his straining outside the lines. The now 39-year-old Brazilian can be called a bon vivant and this is probably one of the reasons that he did not keep his high level for long. In 2008 a departure for AC Milan followed and according to former teammate Aleksandr Hleb, Barcelona made this decision to protect the emerging world star Lionel Messi: “Ronaldinho and Deco came to the training drunk. That’s why they were sold. They were afraid that they would take Messi with them, ”said the Belarusian in June last year VOKA.
The fans of i Rossoneri still saw bouts of the magic of Ronaldinho, but he would never reach the level that he managed to tap in the Camp Nou. After his time at San Siro, he played for Flamengo, Atlético Mineiro, winning the first and only Copa Libertadores in club history in 2013, Querétaro and Fluminense, before ending his professional career in 2015. After his career as a footballer, the Brazilian focused on his Ronaldinho Gaucho Institute, among other things, with which he works for underprivileged children. However, this foundation is now one of the reasons that Ronaldinho is currently in trouble. As early as 2013, the institute and Ronaldinho’s brother Roberto Assis de Moreira were sued by Brazilian justice for building sugar mills, a jetty and clearing forests in a protected nature reserve without a permit.
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Ronaldinho was awarded the Ballon d’Or in 2005
“He’s just like a little kid who never does what he says”
It should come as no surprise that brother Roberto was involved in this matter. The nine-year-old Assis, as he is usually called, has a past as a footballer, where he managed to make it to a Brazilian youth international and played in clubs for Grêmio, Sporting Portugal, Vasco da Gama, Fluminense and Montpellier, among others. After a lingering injury forced him to end his career at the age of 31, Assis fully focused on guiding his brother’s career. Assis took on the business side, among other things, and the big brother is seen as one of the reasons that Ronaldinho is currently in heavy weather. “It is as if Ronaldinho is a broken toy, from which the magic has not completely disappeared. He always smiles and everyone remembers how he played football. However, it is not easy to work with him, he is like a small child who never does what he says. His brother is different. You know who makes the real decisions, it is difficult to negotiate with him and he is holding things back, ”an unnamed Barcelona employee was quoted last week by the Catalan newspaper Macaw.
In 2020, Ronaldinho is still haunted by the issue of building in a protected nature reserve. After his refusal to pay the initial fine of 164 thousand euros, he was increasingly subject to sanctions and the outstanding amount has now risen to more than two million euros. Ronaldinho also has 1.9 million outstanding in other debts, including municipal taxes that he still has to meet. This issue escalated last year when it turned out that he had less than ten euros in his current account when he had to pay a number of his foundation’s bills. For example, after losing all his Brazilian and Spanish passports earlier, it was possible that 57 assets, including a number of cars and an expensive painting, were seized by the Brazilian authorities in July last year. The man who received 20 to 25 million in 2005 from his salary at Barcelona and sponsorship deals alone, escaped further prosecution after interference from President Jair Bolsonaro. After mediation by the head of state, who likes to surround himself with celebrities in exchange for favors, it was decided that Ronaldinho should pay the fine with money taken from foreign accounts. The former star player was also offered a job and corresponding salary as a tourism ambassador.
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Roberto Assis de Moreira plays a major role in the life of his younger brother
Accusation of bigamy
However, Ronaldinho has not only appeared on the radar of justice in Brazil because of his tax problems. In 2018, the notable rumor surfaced that the former footballer was planning to marry both of his girlfriends Beatriz Sousa and Priscilla Coelho. In his native country, however, this falls under the heading of bigamy and is therefore punishable, with a possible prison sentence of six years. Ronaldinho therefore rushed to deny the allegations and not long after, his relationship with Coelho also broke up. She subsequently sued him, for causing alleged physical and emotional damage, for no less than seventy million euros, and mother Maria Aldenice dos Santos popped out of the school to the Brazilian press not much later. “He had a bedroom for him and Priscilla and another bedroom for him and Beatriz,” she said in aromas and colors of the relationship between Ronaldinho and her daughter.
“They never slept together in the same bed, one day was for Priscilla and the next was for Beatriz. He gave them both exactly the same amount as pocket money and exactly the same gifts. He once gave them both a Rolex watch. ” At the end of 2018, however, Coelho decided to choose eggs for her money: “She said that Ronaldinho increasingly started partying alone, leaving all night and leaving her home alone. Then she found messages from Ronaldinho to other women on his phone. Beatriz was not at home then, she celebrated Christmas in London. She confronted, but he didn’t want to talk about it. He went to his car and she followed him, telling him he couldn’t just leave without talking. She then locked herself in her bedroom for three days without eating, trying to talk to him pending his return. Then she decided it couldn’t go any further, packed her bags and drove home. ”
Caught in Paraguay
The accusations of bigamy ultimately did not turn into a conviction for Ronaldinho, but the former star player is currently in deep trouble again. The Brazilian was recently arrested together with Assis in Paraguay on suspicion of entering the country with a false passport. Ronaldinho traveled to Paraguay to promote a book and support a campaign for underprivileged children. After he was released after his first arrest, it was finally decided to lock him in the Agrupación Espacializada just outside the capital Asunción. Ronaldinho is stuck here awaiting trial and justice assumes that the former player, probably unbeknownst to him, has become involved in an operation of a Paraguayan company to launder money. “Justice does not take into account that Ronaldinho did not know that he committed a crime. He did not understand that he had been handed false documents, ”emphasized lawyer Adolfo Marín not long after the arrest of his client.
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The prison where Ronaldinho is currently detained
Ronaldinho is now trying to make the best of it in prison and he is served pizza and cold cuts by fans outside the prison walls. Last weekend he played an absolute leading role during a football match at the detention center by scoring eight times and giving three assists in an 11-2 game won on football boots borrowed from a police officer. This monster victory reportedly yielded Ronaldinho’s team a sixteen pound suckling pig. That same day, however, bad news also came for the Brazilian after a police raid on the home of businesswoman Dalia López. She is said to have been the one who provided Ronaldinho and his brother with false passports and during the raid documents and four to six thousand balls with the same photo of Ronaldinho as seen on the passport were seized, among other things. “We have gathered evidence that can help us with the case,” said study leader Marcelo Pecci after the raid ABC.
The situation is starting to look increasingly urgent for Ronaldinho with these new developments and a few days ago the first rumors came out that his former teammate Messi wanted to interfere in the case. According to reports from South America, the Argentine would have been putting together a team of lawyers and would also be willing to pay the bail of four million. Spanish Sport however, refute these messages after having contacted the entourage of Messi. “Messi is very disappointed with the situation, but at no time has he taken any financial or legal action to try to get the Brazilian former footballer out of prison,” said the sports newspaper, adding that Messi would be annoyed by the reports. , know. “He has not put any lawyers on the case and he is not going to pay four million euros.” A proposal by Ronaldinho’s lawyers to place the former football player under house arrest for a provisional period on payment of a deposit of 1.6 million bail is according to UOL Esporte Rejected by a Paraguayan judge on Monday.
