Brazilian striker Ronaldo quizzed by Rio police after motel 'row with transvestite prostitutes'

By Ashley Gray for MailOnline
Updated: 19:42 EDT, 29 April 2008

Brazil striker Ronaldo was questioned by police after a run-in with three transvestite prostitutes he took to a motel.

The AC Milan star left an upmarket Rio de Janeiro nightclub with the call girls, according to police, but offered them about £300 each to leave when he discovered they were men.

Two accepted - including Junior Ribeiro da Silva, who prefers to be known as Carla - but Ronaldo claims the other, Andre Luis Ribeiro Albertino, who trades as Andrea, demanded £15,000.

Documentary evidence: transvestite Andre Luis Ribeiro Albertino, who goes by the working name of Andreia Albertine, holds up the driver's license and car registration documents of AC Milan star Ronaldo outside a motel in Rio de Janeiro

Andrea says she has a receipt from Ronaldo of the purchase of three transvestites for Sunday night and also claimed the 31-year-old took drugs.

The transvestites claim Ronaldo was in Rio's City of God neighbourhood - made famous in a 2002 film - to buy cocaine. However, they claim he did not want to pay for their services and threatened to attack them if they divulged the case to the media.

Ronaldo admits he knew they were prostitutes when they met on Sunday night, but did not realise they were transvestites until they got to the motel.

Price is right: transvestite Junior Ribeiro da Silva, who trades under the name of Carla, and allegedly accepted Ronaldo's offer of £300

Ronaldo: on crutches in February

Andrea posted a grainy video on YouTube which purports to show Ronaldo. In it, she is heard to say: "To prove it's you." She also posed with car documents said to belong to the three-time FIFA World Player of the Year.

Prostitution is not illegal in Brazil.

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Drive my car: the document which Andrea claims is Ronaldo's car licence

However, according to reports in Brazil, Ronaldo told a police officer he feared the episode could end his career.

Police chief Carlos Augusto Nogueira Pinto said: "Ronaldo's testimony is more reliable. From zero to 10, I give his testimony a nine.

"He was very excited and wanted to go out and have fun, without the press knowing.

"Ronaldo said he is not good in the head and that he is going through psychological problems because of his recent surgery.

"But he committed no crime at all, it was immoral at best."

The player is back in Brazil recovering from a career-threatening knee injury.

Ronaldo released a press statement, saying: "In view of recent events and in order to clarify, the athlete Ronaldo has never been a user of drugs, had no criminal complaint registered against him and is the victim of an attempted extortion."

The YouTube video. . .