International Football
RONALDINHO LAWYERS PUSH FOR FOOTBALLER’S RELEASE OVER FAKE PASSPORT SCANDAL
Lawyers for Brazilian football great, Ronaldinho are trying to organise a hearing to get him temporarily released from detention for allegedly entering Paraguay with a fake passport, defence sources told AFP on Monday (March 9).
Ronaldinho and his brother Roberto were arrested on Friday and held in pre-trial detention in Asuncion for entering Paraguay using forged documents.
Sources close to his defence team said the lawyers were trying to get the brothers a hearing on Tuesday in the hope of securing their temporary release.
Brazilian press reported that the country’s justice minister, Sergio Moro, had contacted Paraguayan authorities over Ronaldinho’s case.
“Moro only called to obtain information on the case, because… the Brazilian government is following it,” a justice ministry official said, denying that Brazil was trying to meddle in the case.
Ronaldinho’s Brazilian lawyer Sergio Queiroz has previously insisted that the two-time world player of the year’s detention was “illicit, illegal and unlawful”.
“Ronaldinho did not commit a crime because he did not know that the passport they gave him was faked,” he said.
The brothers are spending a fourth day behind bars in the Paraguayan capital Asuncion, where late summer temperatures have soared to 40 deg C.
Queiroz wants the pair to be released and allowed to return to their home country.
He said prosecutors originally agreed that the footballer had acted in good faith before a judge ordered their detention, which Queiroz described as unwarranted.
Ronaldinho, considered one of the greatest footballers of all time, was one of the stars of Brazil’s 2002 World Cup win and played for European giants Barcelona Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan, among others.
He and his brother arrived in Asuncion from Brazil on Wednesday and showed their passports to immigration police, who did not immediately notice any problem with the documents.
Hours later, when the passports were determined to be fake, investigators raided the hotel room Ronaldinho was staying in and seized the brothers’ identity cards and travel documents.
Ronaldinho said the passports had been given to him by people who had invited him to attend conferences sponsored by charities working with disadvantaged children.
A Brazilian businessman has also been arrested in connection with the fake passports, while two Paraguayan women have been placed under house arrest and Paraguay’s migration director has resigned.
Queiroz said the brothers were offered the passports “to facilitate the possibility of doing business” in Paraguay.
“The idea was to position Ronaldinho with brands and companies,” he added.
Paraguayan president Mario Abdo on Monday revoked by decree the legal status of the foundation that invited Ronaldinho to the country.
Defence lawyers for the “Angelic Fraternity” foundation’s administrator, Dalia Lopez, acknowledged that she had requested official Paraguayan passports for the brothers but said she had no idea that those delivered were fakes.
Authorities have issued a warrant for her arrest.
Lopez’s lawyers said the brothers had handed over US$5,000 (S$6,900) to “accelerate the process to issue the passports” and that she “never suspected” intermediaries dealing with the request would have submitted false information to authorities.
Her lawyers also denied she had paid Ronaldinho to come to Paraguay or that she was involved in business with him.
But the arrested businessman, Wilmondes Sousa, claimed Lopez was responsible for making the fake passports.
Representatives from four national players’ unions on Thursday launched a new global organisation in Madrid, which they say will strengthen footballers’ rights and improve dialogue with governing bodies.
Opening a new front in the battle over who speaks for players, the International Footballers’ Association (AIF) was unveiled, with David Aganzo, president of Spain’s Association of Footballers (AFE) and a former head of the global union FIFPRO, appointed to lead the organisation.
Players’ unions from Brazil, Mexico and Switzerland were also represented.
The initiative drew a swift rebuke from FIFPRO, which said in a statement that Aganzo was acting out of self-interest and aligning himself with organisations linked to football governing bodies, as well as groups expelled from FIFPRO over alleged mismanagement.
Aganzo rejected the criticism, saying he “will not seek confrontation with FIFPRO”.
The launch comes amid strained relations between players’ unions and football authorities, particularly over the expanding international match calendar.
Relations between FIFA and FIFPRO deteriorated in 2024 after the union lodged a complaint with the European Commission, arguing that the global governing body was abusing its dominant position by adding competitions without sufficient consultation.
Aganzo denied suggestions that the new initiative was backed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, but said “direct dialogue with FIFA” was essential.
AFE’s Extraordinary General Assembly approved the initiative in February with 99.8% of votes cast in favour of spearheading the creation of the AIF.
The same assembly also backed AFE’s withdrawal from FIFPRO, citing what it described as a “complete lack of transparency, as well as its total lack of dialogue with international bodies.”
“We represent over 30,000 footballers, and we come here with a new model aimed at safeguarding players’ rights and facilitating direct communication with all international bodies,” Aganzo told reporters.
“We are in contact with 15 to 20 unions already who were very aware of this moment and waiting for this announcement to make their move and join our initiative.”
He declined to identify any unions beyond those present.
Asked about a report that a senior envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump had urged FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at the upcoming World Cup, Aganzo urged caution.
“These are more political issues; on April 30th, I’ll be speaking to Gianni (Infantino) at the FIFA Congress, and we will discuss those things,” Aganzo said.
“People who want to go to the World Cup have to earn their place on sporting merit.”
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
A new trial over the death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona will begin on Tuesday, with seven members of his medical team charged with negligent homicide nearly a year after a previous case collapsed in a mistrial.
An enduring presence in Argentina – from towering murals to tattoos, opens new tab – Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at 60, after a heart attack while he was recuperating from brain surgery to remove a blood clot.
A court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, will hear testimony from just under 100 witnesses as it tries Maradona’s medical team over alleged negligence in the death of the 1986 World Cup champion.
His medical team has denied wrongdoing. The defendants are psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychologist Carlos Angel Diaz, physician Nancy Edith Forlini, nurse Ricardo Almiron, head nurse Mariano Ariel Perroni, and physician Pedro Pablo Di Spagna. An eighth defendant, nurse Dahiana Madrid, will be tried in a separate jury trial, with no date yet set.
Two months into the first trial, which started last March, a mistrial was declared when one of three judges, Julieta Makintach, resigned after video surfaced showing her being interviewed by a camera crew in the corridors of the courthouse and in her office as part of a documentary, in breach of judicial rules.
The retrial will require both prosecutors and defense lawyers to reassess their strategies after the first trial aired photographs, videos, audio recordings and forensic evidence. Many witnesses, including Maradona’s children and his former wife, Claudia Villafane, have already testified.
Prosecutors argued in the initial trial that medical professionals broke treatment protocols and that the home where Maradona was recovering from surgery amounted to a “theatre of horror,” where necessary care was not provided.
The defense countered that his death was inevitable given his longstanding health problems. Maradona struggled for decades with cocaine and alcohol addiction.
The negligence charges emerged in 2021 after prosecutors appointed a medical board to investigate Maradona’s death. The panel concluded his medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless” manner.
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Aliou Cisse has been named coach of the Angola national team, the country’s football federation (FAF) announced on Thursday, 24 hours after the Senegalese left his post in Libya.
The 50-year-old coach, who led Senegal to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022, ended his short stint with the Libyan national team on Wednesday, after taking charge in March 2025.
“Welcome, Aliou Cisse, head coach of the Angola national team,” the FAF said on Facebook. Angola, which failed to reach this year’s World Cup, will start their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign in September.
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Mexican goalkeeper joins camp for 6th World Cup appearance
Mexico keeps school calendar unchanged after backlash over World Cup plan
Relatives of Mexico’s disappeared hold Mother’s Day protest ahead of World Cup
Breaking! Uzoho suspended from Super Eagles’ next match with Sierra Leone
No longer Super League as CAF changes name of its new clubs competition
NIGERIAN FOOTBALL CHIEF EXECUTIVE, SANUSI CHARGES NIGERIAN COACHES TO BE UPRIGHT, DILIGENT
- Boxing1 week ago
Usyk backs Joshua to beat Fury ahead of heavyweight showdown
- World Cup4 days ago
FIFA Plans Three Opening Ceremonies in All Host Nations for 2026 World Cup
- World Cup3 days ago
United States Unveils Hollywood-Style FIFA World Cup 2026 Opening Ceremony
- World Cup3 days ago
Mexico president wavers on plan to cut school year by 40 days for the World Cup
- World Cup4 days ago
Burna Boy Joins Shakira for Official 2026 World Cup Song ‘Dai Dai’
- World Cup7 days ago
Despite 2026 Absence, Nigeria Still Leads Africa’s World Cup Winners’ Chart
- Nigerian Football3 days ago
Sporting Lagos Crowned 2026 NNL Champions After Dramatic Super Four Finale
- Premier League3 days ago
Man United’s Fernandes and City’s Shaw win FWA Footballer of the Year awards