Why is Ronaldinho in a Paraguayan jail?

Welcome back to the Brazil Sports newsletter. This week, Ronaldinho is in trouble with the law once again, and this time it’s serious. Also, we kick off our series on Brazil’s Olympic medal hopes. That, and much more. Enjoy your read!

Ronaldinho arrested in Paraguay

Former World Player of the Year Ronaldinho Gaúcho is currently in a Paraguayan jail cell alongside his brother Assis, in what is sure to be one of the most confusing and surprising sports stories of 2020. 

Huh? On Wednesday, Ronaldinho and his brother were staying in a resort near the Paraguayan capital of Asunción, where the ex-player was launching his biography in Spanish and taking part in a project of the “Angelical Fraternity Foundation,” an NGO under investigation for tax evasion and money laundering. That evening, police and prosecutors searched the player’s room, on a tip-off that the pair had entered the country using false documents. Indeed, they found a pair of fake Paraguayan passports with the names and photos of Ronaldinho and Assis, claiming they were naturalized Paraguayan citizens—despite usual passport guidelines, the photo used by the ex-Barcelona star featured him wearing his trademark grin.

Hold on, what? Ronaldinho had had his Brazilian and Spanish passports seized after failing to pay environmental fines, but he had reached an agreement with the authorities last year to settle his debt and retrieve his travel documents. However, the strangest part of this tale is that Ronaldinho wouldn’t even need his passport to enter Paraguay, as the country is part of Mercosur—a simple photo ID would have sufficed.

I‘m lost here… On Thursday, Ronaldinho and Assis went to provide a statement at the Department of Organized Crime of the Paraguayan prosecution service. The ex-player claimed he didn’t realize the passports were fake, and he thought he had “been given [Paraguayan citizenship] as a gift.” Prosecutors confirmed that the ID numbers on the documents belonged to other people, Paraguayan citizens María Isabel Gayoso Esperanza and Apolonia Caballero, who were subsequently taken in for questioning. Despite claiming he was in shock, Ronaldinho took the time to pose for a number of grinning photos alongside police officers and prosecutors.

But, why? Brazilian businessman Wilmondes Lira was also arrested alongside the pair, and he is accused by Ronaldinho’s legal counsel of...