Brazilian held in Paraguayan prison
Ronaldinho
S
aturday March 21 was
not the 40th birthday
that Ronaldinho had
imagined. It would seem
fair to assume that he’d
been looking forward
to spending the day
with close friends and family, perhaps
some other glamorous company, with
a barbecue and music and dancing and
life – and freedom, always freedom.
With a ball at his feet Ronaldinho
illustrated maybe better than anyone else
the liberating possibilities of football, the
chance the sport opens up of joyful self-
expression, of freeing the inner child.
And now the symbol of liberty is
behind bars as he spent the landmark
occasion in a Paraguayan prison.
The train of events is truly baffling.
Ronaldinho had no need of a passport
to visit Paraguay as his Brazilian ID
card would have been enough. And he
began his journey at Sao Paulo airport
presenting his ID card. But on arrival in
Paraguay he, and his older brother andmanager Assis, did something different.
They presented Paraguayan passports,
documents which had been requested
for two women and which had
subsequently the details changed.
This set off a conflict within the
Paraguayan authorities. Some may
have been involved in the fraud, others
appeared happy to let him do as he
pleased so long as he posed for a selfie.
Others felt that a passport is a serious
document and the country was running
the risk of looking ridiculous – and it
was this faction that won out, with the
star placed under arrest while the case
is investigated. And considered a flight
risk he was kept in jail rather than under
house arrest, playing in prison football
tournaments, doing some carpentry
and no doubt yearning for his freedom.
Were Ronaldinho and his brother really
in the process of taking out Paraguayan
citizenship? This usually requires a three-
year period of residency and would entail
surrendering his Brazilian nationality. Did
the two passports really cost $6,Headliners
each? And if so, who paid and why?
These all seem like squalid little
questions on the 40th birthday of one
of the world’s great entertainers. And
through it all Ronaldinho seemed totally
bemused – a point made by his own
defence lawyer.
That childish smile, once so infectious,
now seems wholly inadequate to deal
with the complexities of the world. He
seems trapped in a permanent state of
“little brother-hood”, with Assis making
the decisions.
Maybe the Brazilian government will
pull some strings. After all, the man who
was caught using a doctored Paraguayan
passport was just a few months ago
named as an informal ambassador
for Brazilian tourism.
Tim VickeryBemused...
RonaldinhoPEOPLE AND PLACES IN THE NEWS
That childish smile, once so infectious,
now seems wholly inadequate to deal
with the complexities of the world