ASUNCION: With Paraguay's capital in lockdown, former Brazil soccer star Ronaldinho is spending his second week under house arrest in an exclusive ...
A courtyard at the Asuncion hotel where Ronaldinho and his business-manager brother Roberto are being held under house arrest AFP/Norberto Duarte.ASUNCION: With Paraguay's capital in lockdown, former Brazil soccer star Ronaldinho is spending his second week under house arrest in an exclusive hotel in Asuncion, where a ballroom has been set up to allow him to keep us his football skills, as he awaits trial for entering the country under a false passport.
The former Barcelona star spends his days working out in the hotel gym, practicing his legendary juggling skills with the ball, and wandering the echoing halls of the 6,000 square-metre building, refurbished in 2019.Ronaldinho and his brother are among 16 suspects in an extensive anti-corruption investigation. Arrested on Mar 6 for using falsified Paraguayan passports to enter the country from neighboring Brazil, they face up to five years in prison if convicted.
The former player is prevented from receiving visitors in the hotel under Paraguay's protocols against the coronavirus, which officially has 161 infections to date, with eight deaths.Ronaldinho's Brazilian lawyer Sergio Queiroz says there are no legal grounds for his detention."It's illegal, abusive," he said."They did not know that the documents they had were illegal.
What investigators are trying to determine is if the former star was being used as cover in the plot or whether he willingly lent himself to an alleged money laundering and contraband operation to dispel possible suspicion. Ronaldinho and his brother left for Asuncion on Mar 4 with their own Brazilian passports but showed the Paraguayan passports on arrival.
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