Ronaldinho Maintains Innocence In Fake Passport Issue
Former world footballer of the year, Ronaldinho, has maintained his innocence after being taken into custody for entering Paraguay with a fake passport.
Ronaldinho was arrested in Paraguay on March 6 with his brother Roberto Assis for entering the South American country without the right documentation.
The pair were in the country to partake in a number of promotional events.
After initially spending 32 days in the Agrupacion Especializada prison, they were released on April 7 and placed under house arrest at the Hotel Palma Roga in Asuncion until investigation into the case is concluded.
"We were totally surprised to learn that the documents were not legal," Ronaldinho told Paraguayan TV station ABC Color.
"Since then our intention has been to cooperate with justice to clarify the fact, as we did from the beginning. From that moment until today, we have explained everything and facilitated everything that justice asked of us.
"It was a hard blow, I never imagined I would go through a situation like this. All my life I have sought to reach the highest professional level and bring joy to people with my football.
"We hope that they can use and confirm everything we provide as soon as our possible in the case and that we can leave this situation.
"Everything we do is under contracts that are managed by my brother, who is my manager. In this case, we came to participate in the launch of an online casino, as specified in the contract, and for the launch of the book 'Craque da Vida' that was organised with the company in Brazil that has the rights to exploit the book in Paraguay."
Ronaldinho is widely considered as one of the greatest footballers of all-time, having won the FIFA World Cup with Brazil in 2002.
He won two La Liga titles and the UEFA Champions League during his time with Barcelona and also turned out for the likes of AC Milan and Paris Saint Germain in an illustrious career before retiring in 2015.
