An X post by a viral account is going around the internet with a shocking revelation: soccer star Ronaldinho admitted that Messi gave him $5 million to help him leave Paraguayan prison after he lost all his money in a divorce. The post accompanies the quote with a 14-second video of Ronaldinho in different interview clips along with some clips showing him playing with Messi for Barcelona and others from his arrest in 2020. The post is getting shared a lot because it plays into the true friendship between two people at one of the worst times in Ronaldinho’s life.
Here is what actually happened. In March 2020 Ronaldinho and his brother Roberto de Assis Moreira were arrested in Asunción after entering Paraguay with falsified documents. Ronaldinho spent about 32 days in prison before moving to hotel house arrest. Contemporary court reporting and news coverage put the combined bail at approximately $1.6 million not $5 million and confirmed the money came from Ronaldinho’s own European accounts. The case later ended with a conditional suspension after smaller fines and reparations; the pair returned to Brazil.
This was denied by Lionel Messi himself at the time. Back in April of 2020, after there was an allegation that he had bailed out Ronaldinho from jail, he responded via Instagram, calling the piece of news “Lie No. 2.” The channel apologized later, saying that the video was just meant to be a joke. No official bank transactions, court documents, nor credible interviews prove that Messi either paid or forgave the loan for his release.
It must also be said that the divorce-and-financial-loss idea has no evidence backing it up in this case. Although there were numerous financial problems of Ronaldinho in the past, such as tax problems and debt, it does not fit chronologically into this bail case, as well as the fact of his losing of the majority of his wealth in a divorce. Interviews that actually prove that Ronaldinho had difficulties because of his stay in Paraguay do not mention anything about a bail-out or gift of $5 million from Messi.
