ASUNCION, PARAGUAY — Brazilian soccer legend Ronaldinho has been labeled, "stupid" by his lawyer after being banged up for using a fake passport.
His bizarre and brazen comment came during an interview with a Brazilian newspaper, saying "the courts have not taken into account the fact that Ronaldinho didn't know he was committing a crime, because he didn't understand he had been given false documents.
He is stupid." The 39-year-old Samba star and tiki-taka legend, along with his brother Roberto were hauled to court after being arrested at the Sheraton Hotel in Asuncion on Friday.
While Ronaldinho's lawyer appeals a decision not to allow the star to be placed in house arrest, the first photos of him in prison appeared on social media still sporting his trademark grin.
And Blas Vera, the head of the Paraguayan jail, told Reuters, "In broad terms, he is doing very well.
I see he is in good spirits, just like you see him on television, always smiling." The footy star known for his tricks on the pitch, along with his brother, are claiming they're the ones who were tricked.
His lawyer has said Ronaldinho had been given his Paraguayan passport as a "gift" by a businessman, assumed it was an "honorary-type" document of no real value and gave it to an official without thinking when he reached Paraguay because it was the "first thing he got out of his bag." This Brazilian businessman who is alleged to have handed over the passports and two women believed to be the rightful owners of the travel documents are now also in custody.
Interestingly, Ronaldinho did actually have his Brazilian passport confiscated after he was convicted alongside his brother of building an illegal fishing platform on a lake in a conservation area, but Paraguayan prosecutors confirmed earlier this week that it had been returned to him So why didn't he use his own passport when entering Paraguay?
Twinned with his lawyer's comments about it being the "first thing" he laid his hands on, this situation is being greeted with a mixture of ridicule and disbelief.