Football: Ronaldinho loses appeal for release from house arrest

Ronaldinho was arrested in Paraguay for allegedly trying to enter the country on a fake passport. PHOTO: RONALDINHO/INSTAGRAM

ASUNCION - Ronaldinho has been ordered to remain under house arrest in Paraguay after an appeal court judge refused a request to release the former Barcelona star and his brother.

Local media reported that the failed appeal means the brothers will be kept in preventative detention for up to six months, pending a trial.

The 40-year-old former Barcelona and AC Milan star and brother Roberto de Assis spent more than a month in prison in Paraguay after they were arrested for allegedly trying to enter the country on fake passports in March.

Since his release from jail in April, the duo have stayed at a four-star hotel in the country's capital Asuncion awaiting their trial.

"People in their homes must imagine what it must be like not being able to do what you are used to,' he told Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo.

"I think that is something that will remain with us all forever after living in this complicated experience."

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 and was twice voted the Fifa World Player of the Year.

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