MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Super star Ronaldinho nominated as a Brazil ambassador for tourism

“Tourism is very important for generating jobs and regaining our image internationally,” Ronaldinho said at his unveiling on Thursday

Despite being unable to leave Brazil, the former Barca star Ronaldinho has been unveiled as one of the country's new ambassadors for tourism. The 39-year-old, who won the 2002 World Cup with the Selecao, had his passport seizure upheld in May this year after failing to pay a fine relating to environmental damage.

Ronaldinho and his brother were convicted of illegally building a fishing trap at Lake Guaiba in 2015 without proper licensing in a permanent preservation area.

That conviction saw the duo handed an US$ 8.5 million fine in November 2018 and after failing to pay up, Brazil's Superior Court of Justice decided to stop Ronaldinho from being able to leave the country.

Literally stranded in his homeland, the former Barcelona and AC Milan star is trying to make the most of his limbo after accepting a role to promote Brazil's tourism.

“Tourism is very important for generating jobs and regaining our image internationally,” Ronaldinho said at his unveiling on Thursday.

The 2005 Ballon d'Or winner has been praised for voluntarily taking on the new role by Brazilian Institute of Tourism's Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Osvaldo Matos de Melo Junior.

“You take the case of Ronaldinho, a person who has almost 100 million followers in his networks and voluntarily helps us at no cost for patriotism. This attitude is invaluable,“ he said.

”Just by issuing a visa to countries like the United States and Canada, we have already had over 200% increase in demand for our country. We will increasingly invest, even in intelligence, to achieve our goals.”

Since hanging up the boots, Ronaldinho has taken on a role as ambassador for the 2016 Summer Paralympics and appeared at the closing ceremony for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.