Ronaldinho has been snapped signing autographs on other inmates’ clothing during his stint in a Paraguayan prison.
The former Barcelona star is
being kept in a Specialised Unit in the Paraguayan capital Asuncion as he is
being investigated for entering the country on a fake passport.
New images reportedly taken
inside the unit, which is designated for high-profile inmates, show the
Brazilian icon signing autographs on the clothing of other inmates, with one
prisoner showing off his signed Flamengo vest.
Paraguay’s Interior Minister
Euclides Acevedo, has suggested Ronaldinho, 39, could play in a football match
organised in the jail and opened up on the former AC Milan forward’s day-to-day
life, saying:
“He’s an international idol,
I don’t know if they’re going to play a football match, but we presume that
that within the group there will be a little kickaround.
“I’m telling you that the
Specialised Unit isn’t a penitentiary, it’s almost a hotel. He didn’t like the
biscuits or the cooked mate (a bitter tea), but he ate chipa (a baked
cheese-flavoured bread).”
Acevedo said he had spoken
to Brazil’s Justice and Public Security Minister Sergio Moro about the case,
saying the conversation was held with “absolute respect for our judicial
sovereignty).
Ronaldinho went to Paraguay
to participate in a charity event called ‘Angelical Fraternity’ but he was
detained by police after he and his brother allegedly used fake passports to
enter the country.