Brazilian Football legend Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, commonly known as “Ronaldinho Gaucho” may not be able to travel to Kenya this month as Brazilian government has seized his passport as well as his brother who doubles up as his agent over debt.
According to the Bleachers report the star owes the State 2.2 Million Euros for building a fishing platform in Guiaba River which is a protected area and therefore illegal.
A court in Rio Grande Do Sul ordered that his passport be seized.
Tax authority deprived Ronaldinho of his passport due to debts towards Brazilian state
— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) November 2, 2018
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Ronaldinho was scheduled to come to Nairobi on November 9 on a three-day visit courtesy of a betting firm he is associated with. He was also scheduled to grace a grass roots football match in Kisumu County and mentor upcoming footballers.
The founder of WebSummit conference in Lisbon, Portugal is one of those who announced the unavailability of Ronaldinho as he was scheduled to headline the popular tech summit.
No passport no #WebSummit for @10Ronaldinho unfortunately. Always next year. Hope everything works out. We’ll miss you on our sports stage. https://t.co/uZQpRNKQdY
— Paddy Cosgrave (@paddycosgrave) November 3, 2018
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Ronaldhinho is considered one of the most talented footballers in the history of the game, and certainly of his generation.
He enjoyed a stellar 17-year career playing for top European clubs including Barcelona, AC Milan and Paris St Germain. He is a World Cup winner and Uefa Champions League champion.
Other football stars that have visited Kenya in recent years include ex-Liverpool star Bruce Grobbelaar, Nigerian Yakubu Ayegbeni, Frenchmen Thierry Henry and Robert Pires and German World Cup winner Lothar Matthäus.
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