Ronaldinho swaps Paraguay prison for house arrest in luxury hotel
- Former Brazil international still under investigation over false passport claims but leaves jail on US$800,000 bail
- Barcelona legend, who showed his skills in prison futsal tournament, claims disputed document was a gift
Retired football star Ronaldinho was released from a high-security prison in Paraguay on Tuesday after more than a month, but was ordered to serve house arrest at a luxury hotel while he is investigated for using a false passport to enter the country.
The Brazilian entered the hotel about four hours after the ruling. He was transported in a police van and was allowed in after sanitary precautions due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Ronaldinho, the Brazilian former Fifa player of the year, and his brother, Roberto de Assis, were also told to pay bail of US$800,000 each.
Ronaldinho, who helped lead Brazil to the 2002 Fifa World Cup, was jailed on March 6 after entering the small South American country with a false Paraguayan passport. He told local authorities in a hearing that the document was a gift from a Brazilian businessman, Wilmondes Sousa Liria, who was also jailed.
“I decided to put them in house arrest because the investigation is now well advanced, different from the situation one month ago,” Judge Gustavo Amarilla said when issuing the ruling.