The prison director in which former player Ronaldinho is being held in Paraguay said that the 2002 FIFA World Cup winner with Brazil quickly adapted to life in prison, but his defense team hopes to leave him sooner than the detainee while forcibly residing at home while the investigation continues.
"He (Ronaldinho) is totally fine. I see his morale as good as you see on TV and always smiling," prison warden Plus Vera said in a telephone interview with Reuters today.
He pointed out that Ronaldinho, 39, and his brother Roberto Assis, who had been arrested since last Friday after using false passports to enter Paraguay, would appear before the judge on Tuesday.
Vera added that the former Milan and Paris St Germain striker and his brother had beds, a TV screen and a fan in their cell in the prison on the outskirts of the capital Asuncion.
The two brothers used a shared toilet, and they had the right to use the outside patio regularly, and the bar team provided them with meals and did not eat prison food.
Comfortable stay
The high security prison includes 195 prisoners, including politicians and police officers accused of corruption, in addition to the major drug dealers.
Vera said that the most dangerous prisoners reside in a wing different from that of Ronaldinho and his brother, and stressed that he was working to ensure "a comfortable stay for the two brothers as possible."
Former Paraguay captain Carlos Gamara, who has played for several Brazilian clubs, visited Ronaldinho with a group of former players in prison on Sunday.
Vera said that other visitors came to visit their families on Sunday, and they chatted with the two Brazilian brothers.
Ronaldinho, who was appointed last year as a tourism ambassador to the right-wing government in Brazil, arrived in the landlocked country in South America on Wednesday at the invitation of the owner of a nightclub, and arrested his brother's companionship for carrying fake passports.
Their lawyer, Sergio Kirosh, told Reuters they had asked the court to release them with house arrest and guarantees that they would not pose any risk to air traffic.