Ronaldinho court date set over using fake passport

Rio de Janeiro

A judge in Paraguay set a date for Brazilian football star Ronaldinho to appear in court over allegations he used a fake passport to enter the country. The 2002 World Cup winner and his brother Roberto de Assis must appear before a court on August 24, according to Paraguay's ABC Color and Brazil's G1 news outlets, citing Assis' lawyer Sergio Queiroz.

Judge Gustavo Amarilla will decide whether to follow a request from Paraguayan prosecutors to release of the brothers on parole, which would close the case. They would then be allowed to return to Brazil, but would still have to pay fines totaling $200,000. Ronaldinho and Assis were arrested over accusations they entered Paraguay in March using fake documents.

They spent around a month in jail, with the former Barcelona and AC Milan player spending his 40th birthday incarcerated before his lawyer secured his release on bail of $1.6 million. Since then, Ronaldinho and Assis have been staying in a hotel in Paraguay's capital Asuncion.