Pato, Diego Offer Ronaldo Support

Brazilian striker Ronaldo has received some welcome support from his compatriots in the light of his involvement in a sex controversy.

El Fenomeno's tryst with three transvestites seems to have done plenty of damage to his reputation, the different versions of the incident notwithstanding.

The striker, currently recovering after a knee operation, is set to lose his girlfriend and sponsors Nike despite insisting that he was the wronged one.

However, compatriots Alexandre Pato and Diego have offered their support to him at this difficult moment.

“He is still my idol,” said Pato. “He is a great friend.

"He’s relaxed and now just has to focus on healing his knee injury. He needs to get better and return to playing football.”

Diego aired similar thoughts.

"I admire Ronaldo very much so, inside and outside the field," said the Werder Bremen star.

"He was always my idol and I am cheering once again for him to return to the fields asap. I imagine that what happened was a big misunderstanding."

Ronaldo loses endorsement deal over transvestite scandal

Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo has lost an advertising contract worth $4.8 million a year with mobile phone company TIM because of the scandal involving him with three cross-dressing prostitutes, EFE news agency reported Sunday.

The contract contained a clause allowing its unilateral cancellation by the telecom company if for some reasons the athlete might project a negative corporate image, Brazilian daily O Globo reported Saturday.

Ronaldo had already received $1.8 million from this contract in 2008 and still had another $3 million to collect before the end of the year, according to the report.

The AC Milan striker could also run the risk of losing the lifetime contract that he has with US sports apparel firm Nike, worth some $100 million, some media reports suspected.

Ronaldo, who represented Brazil in two World Cups, Wednesday denied in a statement the possibility of losing those contracts, saying he would have to be found guilty in court in any offense for that to be happened.

Ronaldo has not been accused of any crime - as prostitution is legal in Brazil - but he landed in a police station early Monday following a fight with a transvestite who accused him of not wanting to pay for a night of sex.

According to a cross-dresser's story, Ronaldo, who told police he was unaware the prostitutes he picked up were men, contracted his services and those of two others working the street in the upscale neighborhood of Barra de Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro and they subsequently had sex in the motel.

The transvestite also said that Ronaldo had sent him to buy cocaine in a nearby shantytown, something that the athlete has categorically denied.

Following the scandal, Ronaldo's girlfriend broke up with him and he has shut himself away in his mother's mansion to escape the paparazzi.

Ronaldo is in Brazil to recover from a bad knee injury that will keep him off the field until early 2009.

Ronaldo plans to return to Paris next week to see the doctor that operated on him last February.

poor ronie

'Crying Game' incident leaves Ronaldo devastated

Brazilian striker Ronaldo fears his reputation has been ruined forever after his 'shameful' run-in with transvestites in Rio de Janeiro last week.

'I've done something really stupid in my personal life,' the AC Milan player said in an interview with Globo television on Sunday.

'We are all subject to making mistakes and I made a mistake in looking for this. I did not at any moment know they were tranvestites,' the 31-year-old added in his first public appearance since the incident last Monday.

'I cried a lot afterwards. I was incredibly ashamed.'

Police said Ronaldo, who is recovering from a knee injury, went to a motel in Rio's upmarket Barra da Tijuca district with three call girls only to find out they weretransvestites.

The police have said they are considering charging one of the transvestites with extortion and stealing Ronaldo's driving licence.

Ronaldo, who gave the interview at his plush seaside mansion in Angra dos Reis, admitted the incident had done irreparable damage to his reputation.

'This was the worst decision of my personal life,' he said. 'It took on a very big dimension and had worldwide repercussion. It will stain my personal life forever.'

'For the sensationalist media, this has had a bigger impact than the World Cup,' said Ronaldo, who scored both goals when Brazil beat Germany 2-0 in the 2002 World Cup final.

He said the fateful evening had began after he had a 'silly' fight with his girlfriend.

'I did not know they were transvestites, I'm completely heterosexual,' he said. 'When we got to the place, I concluded that they were transvestites.

'I tried to stop there and go home - it was here that the extortion started.

'I wanted to finish by paying what we had agreed. Two accepted but the third didn't want to accept and asked an absurd quantity for it not to come out in the media.'

Ronaldo added: 'I preferred to face the situation head on rather than be extorted.'

He said his girlfriend had reacted furiously, though she later supported him.

'When I told her the story she swore at me. Afterwards she gave me support,' the player said. 'Obviously it was very difficult for her to forgive, we don't know what will happen from now on.

'Behind the personality which I carry, I'm a normal person and I have my weaknesses and my fears.

'I have to reconstruct everything. It's like a house which has been knocked down by a hurricane. Now I have to build it all over again.'

Ronaldo 'sorry' about encounter with cross-dressing prostitutes

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) -- Brazil striker Ronaldo says he's sorry, embarrassed and ashamed about his highly publicized encounter a week ago with three cross-dressing prostitutes, calling it the biggest mistake of his life.

In an interview on Brazil's Globo TV, the AC Milan striker on Sunday denied claims by one of the prostitutes that he had sex with them and used drugs, but admitted that the incident will haunt the rest of his career.

"It was an isolated and stupid act,'' the three-time FIFA player of the year said on Globo's hugely popular Fantastico program. "I'm sorry and ashamed.''

In a halting voice, Ronaldo said he wasn't aware the prostitutes were cross-dressers until he got to a motel with them, discovered they were men and decided not to have sex with them because he is heterosexual.

Ronaldo, who plays for Italian club AC Milan but is recovering from knee surgery in Brazil, also said he had been drinking earlier that night after watching Rio's Flamengo win against rival Botafogo - but was not drunk.

"I made the stupidest mistake ever of my personal life,'' he said. "Anyone can make a mistake, and I made a big mistake.''

Police are investigating the case to determine whether an extortion attempt was made against Ronaldo, but have said he committed no crime. Prostitution is legal in Brazil.

The television appearance by Ronaldo was his first in public since last Tuesday, when he went into hiding after the run-in with the prostitutes, who created a brief media sensation in Brazil with days of high-profile interviews.

The comments by Ronaldo to Globo jibed with his statement last week to police and with interviews conducted with detectives.

The motel manager - identified only as Luisa - said Ronaldo, who was dressed and appeared to be sober, tried to get rid of the prostitutes after realizing they were men.

She told police Ronaldo offered the prostitutes US$600 (?390) to end the incident but they would not accept dollars. The manager then converted the money into Brazilian reals for Ronaldo, but before he made the payment one prostitute asked for 50,000 reals (US$30,000; ?19,400) to keep the story from the media, according to a police document.

Ronaldo is a fan of Flamengo and has said he wants to play for the Brazilian club before retiring. He has won two World Cups with Brazil, including in 2002 when he scored eight goals, including two in the final against Germany.

Ronaldo told Globo TV that his contract with AC Milan ends in June, but that he won't start negotiating about his comeback with any teams until he recovers from his injury.

"I'm sure the doors of Flamengo will be open for me,'' he said.

Ronaldo Hints At Flamengo Move

AC Milan striker Ronaldo has hinted that he wants to return to his homeland and play for Flamengo next year.

The Brazilian, who is likely to be sidelined for the rest of 2008 with a left knee injury, is out of contract in June and it is unlikely he will be offered new terms until he has proved he will be fit to make a return.

Nonetheless, the 31-year-old still has goals he wants to achieve and one of those is to play domestic football in his homeland, for the first time since leaving Cruzeiro for PSV Eindhoven as an 18-year-old in 1994.

He told Fantastico TV show on O Globo: "My contract with Milan finishes in June. From then onwards, I will be free to negotiate with everybody. It would be a big dream and I am sure Flamengo's doors are open for me."

Ronaldo: No Milan? I'll Go To Flamengo

Milan striker Ronaldo reveals that he may move to Brazilian side Flamengo if the Rossoneri let him go following his antics in Rio De Janeiro.

The player’s future at the club is looking increasingly uncertain following the transvestite scandal that he was involved in. Many believe that the former world player of the year is on his way out of the club. Ronaldo insists that would not be a problem. He also stated that he is not gay.

“My contract with Milan ends in June, after that, I am able to talk with whoever I want regarding my future,” Ronaldo told Brazilian television.

“I already have a plan more or less laid out, and that is my dream to move to Flamengo, I know that the doors there will always be open for me.

“As for what happened, I did not have any sexual dealings with those people, I must stress that I am not gay.

“When I told my girlfriend, she started to shout, scream and swear at me, I think she’ll find it hard to forgive me.”

Milan are on course to qualify for the Champions League and they may have to try and conquer it without the Brazilian star. Ronaldo has left Italy once on bad terms when he escaped from Inter to join Real Madrid in 2002. Now it seems repeat his disappearing act in June.

Goal.com

Ronaldo Didn’t Have Sex With Transvestites

The three transvestites involved in the Ronaldo sex scandal have confessed to police that they lied about having sex and using drugs with the AC Milan striker.

Ronaldo hit the headlines last week when it was reported that he had had an encounter with three transvestites in a motel in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday night.

Ronaldo picked up the three men, believing that they were female prostitutes, and did not realise they were transvestites until they got to the motel.

One of the transvestites, Andreia Albertini, then attempted to extort Ronaldo, asking for $30,000 to buy a house in exchange for hiding the story from the media.

Police inspector Carlos Augusto Nogueira has now confirmed that Ronnie did not have sex or use drugs with the cross-dressers.

"There was no drugs or sex that night,” Nogueira said.

"They said that they invented the whole story because they failed to receive the money they intended as extortion."

As a result of the scandal, Ronaldo’s relationship with his girlfriend Maria Beatriz Anthony has ended, while a number of his lucrative sponsorship deals with the likes of Nike are also under threat.

Maradona On Ronaldo, Tibet

Argentina legend Diego Maradona has spoken on two subjects that probably couldn't be further apart, namely Ronaldo's dalliances with women/men of little virtue and the uprising against the Chinese government in Tibet.

Maradona is currently in Bologna, Italy ahead of his participation in a charity match organised by Roma captain Francesco Totti and singer Eros Ramazzotti, scheduled for the 12th May at the Stadio Olímpico in Rome.

The former Napoli player has found himself in hot demand by the media since his arrival in the country and took some time on Thursday to sit down and talk to the news agency 'Ansa' about a couple of recent issues that are on his mind.

First up was the controversy surrounding AC Milan striker Ronaldo, who got caught up with three transvestites during a recent night out in Rio, where he is situated while he recovers from knee surgery.

"Ronaldo is an incredible player; the things that happen in his personal life are his own problem," said Maradona, a man not exactly famed for enjoying the quiet side of life himself.

"He will always be great. Nobody can judge his personal life."

Moving on to more serious issues, Maradona spoke in support of the political uprising in Tibet, suggesting that he may forego any links with the Beijing Olympics later this year.

"The Chinese are wrong and I will probably not even cover the Olympics for television, yet alone go there," he affirmed.

"For me, Tibet is a very serious subject, especially the lack of diplomatic relations."

Soccer: Ronaldo watching weight

AC Milan's Brazilian soccer striker Ronaldo yesterday said that he is 8kg overweight but hopes to shed most of the excess within a month.

Ronaldo ruptured a tendon in his left knee during a Serie A game in February and is expected to need at least another seven months to recover.

The injury was similar to two injuries earlier in his career.

Ronaldo’s ex-girlfriend Antony is expecting his baby :clap:

RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazilian striker Ronaldo is expecting a baby with ex-girlfriend Maria Beatriz “Bia” Antony, who recently left the AC Milan forward following a scandal involving transvestites.

“I am very happy, everyone celebrated. I heard early on Saturday. Bia is arriving in Rio this week,” Ronaldo’s mother Sonia Nazario de Lima was quoted as saying in the Monday edition of the Brazilian daily O Dia.

Brazilian media assumed that the pregnancy could pave the way for a reconciliation between Ronaldo, 31, and Antony, a 23-year-old engineer who previously dated current Formula 1 driver Nelsinho Piquet.

Antony – who had been living with the striker in Milan since late last year and travelled with him to Rio de Janeiro last month – decided to leave Ronaldo a couple of weeks ago, in the wake of a scandal after the footballer sought sex at an hourly hotel in Rio with three prostitutes who were in fact transvestites.

In the only interview he gave on the subject, Ronaldo said he was “repentant” and even “ashamed” of what he defined as a “stupid action”, but he denied having had sex with the transvestites or having used drugs, as one of the prostitutes initially claimed.

He said he gave up on sex when he realised his partners were transvestites, but noted that they demanded “an absurd amount of money” in exchange for not letting the media know of the affair.

Ronaldo already has one son, Ronald, from his first marriage to fellow-football player Milene Domingues. During his swift relationship with Brazilian model Daniella Cicarelli the woman got pregnant but suffered a miscarriage.

Ronaldo: I Don’t Normally Visit Prostitutes

Crocked Milan striker Ronaldo has given a full account of what really happened during his recent altercation with three Brazilian prostitutes.

naldo hit the headlines a few weeks ago when it was reported that he had had an encounter with three transvestites in a motel in Rio de Janeiro.

A lot has been reported in the press since, and Ronaldo has now moved to clear up, in detail, exactly what happened.

“What happened with the transvestites was the worst thing that has ever happened to me,” he told Spanish newspaper AS.

“It was my mistake and I think about it every day. It caused me a lot of personal pain, but it hasn’t changed my desire to play again.

“The true story is that I went to dinner with some friends. We left the restaurant at 4.30am and I did something stupid.

“I’d had an argument with my girlfriend and I was sad, so I was thinking lots. A girl came up to my car and I accepted her services.

“We went to a motel and she called some friends. When they arrived I realised that they weren’t women, but men, transvestites. And then I told them that I had changed my mind.

“I didn’t want to go any further because they weren’t women and they demanded £24,000 or else they would go to the Press. “But they asked me for more money. I started to negotiate with them because I didn’t want any trouble.

“So they went to the police station and made up lies about me to profit from the situation because I am famous.

“I don’t normally go to prostitutes and I want people to know that. I have always had a girlfriend and I don’t need that kind of service.

“I am heterosexual. I have no problem with homosexuals, but I like women. I have never taken drugs - I am a sportsman.

“My girlfriend didn’t take it well. She was very angry with me and we argued, but afterwards she gave her support.

“It has been a tough thing for me and also for her. I think that she is also pregnant, but we will wait for the first few months to see if everything goes well.

“I understand that some people may have lost a little respect for me, but I have done a lot for football, for sport and for my country.

“We all make mistakes and I have learned a lot from this experience. I did something stupid and I regret it more each day, but when I return to the pitch and score again everyone will forget it,” he concluded.

Ronaldo is currently recovering from a severed tendon in his knee, and latest reports suggest he could be back in action as early as September.

They are not together?

And thanks LuNo

They are not together?

And thanks LuNo

I don't know. And you're welcome

Thanks LuNo !!

You're welcome

Brazil's Veloso defends Ronaldo's walk on wild side

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian singing star Caetano Veloso defended disgraced footballer Ronaldo at a show in Rio de Janeiro, saying the AC Milan striker did not have to apologize to anyone over his embarrassing encounter with three transvestites in a Rio motel.

The incident last month in which Ronaldo went to the motel with three prostitutes only to find out they were transvestites has been the talk of Brazil.

The three-times former world player of the year has since given TV interviews to profess his shame but has also been mocked mercilessly on variety shows and in the media.

At the concert in Rio on Thursday night, Veloso, one of Brazil's most renowned musicians and an influential figure in his home country, played a rarely-performed 1982 song "Three Transvestites." He then followed up by praising Ronaldo.

"Ronaldo does not have to ask forgiveness. The intimate part is no one's business. Ronaldo's football is poetry and poetry must be respected," he told the audience.

"Ronaldo was right when he said he didn't want to pay because he was being threatened. This man is a star."

Ronaldo said after the run-in that the transvestites had tried to blackmail him. He said he had done something "really stupid" and feared his reputation has been ruined forever.

The 31-year-old, who scored both goals when Brazil beat Germany 2-0 in the 2002 World Cup final, is recovering from a knee injury that is expected to keep him out of football action for another seven months.

Adriano: Ronaldo will bounce back

Sao Paulo forward Adriano is confident that Ronaldo will bounce back from his current injury and personal problems.Adriano has earned an international recall after a successful loan spell in Brazil from Inter Milan and the 26-year-old believes that his 2006 World Cup teammate will also recover from his own recent troubles.

Ronaldo, who is recovering from a knee injury, recently found himself in the headlines after it was reported that police in Rio de Janeiro were investigating an accusation that a transvestite attempted to extort money from the AC Milan player after he mistakenly picked up three transvestites at a nightclub.

"We always had a good relationship and while I think that what Ronaldo did was not right, I am never going to give up our friendship for that," said Adriano to globoesporte.com.

"He is Ronaldo and he is a big name. If that had happened to another person, nobody would talk about it.

"These are lessons to learn from this incident. I also went through some difficulties and I know how he must feel," Adriano added.