Asuncion (Paraguay): Brazil football legend Ronaldinho has been released from the prison after a Paraguayan judge granted his request for house arrest, prosecutors have said.
2002 World Cup winning hero and his brother, Roberto Assis, have been held at a prison in Asuncion since March 6 for using fake passports.
The pair will be relocated to a hotel in the centre of Asuncion after agreeing to pay $1.6 million in bail during a court hearing. Judges had rejected three previous bail requests by the brothers.
"The bail amount was important," prosecutor Osmar Legal told reporters on Tuesday. "They previously offered to use a house that was not even in their name as a guarantee. Now they have opened checking accounts in their name and deposited the amounts," he added.
It is also reported that Ronaldinho and Assis will stay at the four-star Palmaroga Hotel while authorities continue to investigate the case.
The former Barcelona playmaker travelled with Assis to Paraguay on March 4 to participate in a children's charity event and promote a new book. They were arrested later that day for entering the country with false travel documents.
The pair have denied any wrongdoing and said they were presented with the passports as a "gift" upon arriving in Asuncion.
"I especially want to explain to Ronaldinho that this money that was offered from you to guarantee that neither you nor your brother will flee the country, is money that is deposited in an account at the National Development Bank, a state bank. Paraguayan, exclusively with the result that neither you nor your brother are going to elope. This cause ends as it ends and that money is returned to you for your free use, understand," criminal judge, Gustavo Amarilla, said.
Ronaldinho retired from football in 2018 after a career that included spells at Gremio, Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona, Milan and Atletico Mineiro, among other clubs. He was a part of the Brazil team that won the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea and was twice voted the FIFA world player of the year.
