Brazil football great Ronaldinho detained in Paraguay after allegedly using fake passport

Ronaldinho, a two-time world player of the year, is accused of using a fake Paraguayan passport to enter the country. Photo / Twitter.

Brazilian football star Ronaldinho has been detained in Paraguay on suspicion that he used a fake Paraguayan passport to enter the country.

According to the Paraguayan National Police, law-enforcement authorities uncovered the fake passports during a search of the presidential suite of the Resort Yacht & Golf Club Paraguayo, located just south of Asuncion, the country's capital.

​Ronaldinho, 39, and his brother, Roberto, were staying at the hotel after entering Paraguay the country for an appearance at a charity event, and both had been suspected of using the fake passports by border agents upon their entry into the country.

Ronaldinho, or Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, right, enters Paraguay's attorney offices in Asuncion, Paraguay yesterday after being accused of arriving in the country with a fake passport. Photo / AP

Gloria Delagracia, head of communications of Paraguay's interior ministry, told The Washington Post that Ronaldinho is being detained in his hotel room. He was scheduled to appear in court on Thursday morning (Friday NZT), and a prosecutor will decide if the investigation will proceed, Delagracia said.

"The information we have is that Mr Ronaldinho came into the country with an adulterated passport," Euclides Acevedo, Paraguay's interior minister, said on Thursday on Paraguayan radio.

Ronaldinho and his brother have been arrested for entering Paraguay with fake passports.

His fake passport shows his correct name, birthplace, and birthdate, but it falsely suggests that he’s a naturalized Paragauay citizen. [@Santula] pic.twitter.com/qOVEi7xPmi

— Zach Lowy (@ZachLowy) March 5, 2020

In an interview with a local TV station, Acevedo said the passport originally belonged to a woman who sold it, and the passport "ended up in the hands of an international group dedicated to document adulteration."

Last July, Ronaldinho had his Brazilian and Spanish passports confiscated over unpaid fines and debts in his home country of Brazil, with one report from there saying he owed more than US$2 million (NZ$3.2 million) in unpaid environmental fines after he illegally constructed a pier at his lake house in Porto Alegre and had more than US$1.5 million (NZ$2.4 million) in other debts.

🤯 Brazilian legend Ronaldinho was arrested in Paraguay last night, along with his brother, for trying to enter the country with fake passports...

He's gone full McLovin 😂 pic.twitter.com/75km47cnmD

— ODDSbible (@ODDSbible) March 5, 2020

Ronaldinho, a two-time world player of the year, last played professional football in 2015 after a storied career that included a 2002 World Cup title with the Brazilian national team and stops at European club titans Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and AC Milan.

Along with the money he made from his football contracts, he also earned millions of dollars endorsing such companies and Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nike, EA Sports and Gatorade, and last year the BBC estimated his net worth at around US$100 million (NZ$159 million).