Former football star Ronaldinho, who has worked for PSG and Barcelona in particular, has been accused since Wednesday by the Paraguayan authorities of entering their country with his brother using false passports. The police raided the hotel where the former player who is in Paraguay is staying to promote a book.

Former Brazilian football star Ronaldinho and his brother Roberto are under investigation in Paraguay, accused of entering the country with false passports, Paraguayan authorities said on Wednesday. "Ronaldinho will be heard at eight in the morning on Thursday at the prosecutor's office," Euclides Acevedo, interior minister for the small neighboring country of Brazil, told reporters. Paraguayan police raided the hotel where the 2005 Ballon d'Or is housed in Asuncion, where it is located to promote a book, and found, according to the minister, false passports made in the Paraguayan capital some months.

A passport withdrawn in 2018

"We are also investigating the responsibility of the authorities who allowed them to enter the country with falsified documents," said the minister.

Brazilian justice deprived Ronaldinho of a passport at the end of 2018, following a fine of 2.5 million dollars (around 2.25 million euros), which he never paid, for having built a jetty without authorization at the edge of a lake in a protected area according to the Brazilian media.