Former football great Ronaldinho has fallen on hard times. The Brazilian was arrested in March after using a fake passport and documents to enter Paraguay. According to Ronaldinho’s representative, the midfielder had obtained his false documents from a sponsor.
La sonrisa del fútbol, hoy en la Agrupación Especializada, con mucha magia y el comentario de los jugadores “ maa oimoata ape jahuga @10Ronaldinho “ y todos sonriendo pic.twitter.com/Vp0yLKklvA
— Edgar Cantero (@edgar_cantero) March 13, 2020
The ex-Barcelona player and Balon d’Or winner has been a big hit since being arrested. Ronaldinho is in a maximum-security prison in Paraguay where he has found the time to join a jailhouse futsal team. Images were recently leaked of Ronaldinho competing for his prison futsal side in a tournament.
Ronaldinho was in excellent form for his prison side Negro Cumbiero. He had a hand in every game for the team in an 11-2 win and showed off some of the great skills he used in professional football.
Ronaldinho’s fall from grace
The Brazilian football legend retired from the sport in 2015 after playing with Fluminese. Since ending his career, Ronaldinho has had legal issues that were capped off by his arrest in early March for entering Paraguay using fake documents.
Ronaldinho is best-known for his time with La Liga club Barcelona where he played 207 matches scoring 94 goals and winning the Champions League. He also helped lead Brazil to the 2002 World Cup trophy.
The ex-Balon d’Or winner is not the first footballer to be arrested. Joey Barton served time while a member of Manchester City after assaulting teammate Ousmane Dabo on the training pitch. Barton was also convicted of assault after hitting a pedestrian with his car in Liverpool city centre.
Arsenal defender Tony Adams served time in jail for drink driving after crashing his car into a wall. Adams was found to be 27-times over the legal limit when he was tested by police officers.
Ronaldinho is set to be in prison for the coming weeks and may get further futsal matches with his team. Currently, both Ronaldinho and his brother Roberto de Assis are being kept in a special unit for high-profile inmates.