Ronaldinho Pictured Smiling in Paraguayan Prison After Passport Fiasco

As a player, Ronaldinho was famous not only for his unprecedented ability with the ball at his feet, but for his laid-back attitude. 

While most of the all-time greats were relentless in their pursuit of success, never satisfied with themselves, the Brazilian was always seemingly just happy to be playing football. His relaxed demeanour was reflected in his style of play, and he is fondly remembered as one of the game’s ​best-ever entertainers. 

Handling the pressure was never an issue, and it seems that is still the case now, even while things in his personal life have taken a turn towards the controversial. 

He and his brother Roberto are currently being held in a Paraguayan prison for falsifying passports, while police investigate for other offences. But in an image shared by Paraguayan journalist Hernán Rodriguez, it seems he is all smiles.

​ESPN report that the former PSG, ​Barcelona and ​Milan star was taken into custody on Saturday along with his brother and business manager Roberto for using doctored passports to enter the country. 

No charges have been levelled at the pair just yet, but it is said that they could be held for up to six months as authorities in the country investigate other offences, as is the law in the South American country. 

That was denied by Sergio Queiroz, the lawyer representing​ the pair, however. 

“The case as it was presented is clear,” Queiroz said. “There is no other point being investigated, you can see that there in the documents.

“They confessed that they used these false passports, but there was no harm done to the Paraguayan state.

“Roberto and Ronaldinho did not know that the passports were irregular. And they cooperated fully with authorities.”

Ronaldinho hasn’t played since leaving Fluminese in 2015, but this isn’t the first legal controversy he has been involved in since. According to the ​BBC, both his Brazilian and Spanish passports were confiscated in the summer, along with other assets, as the result of a criminal investigation into alleged tax evasion. 

Source: 90min.com