Rio de Janeiro: Brazilian striker Ronaldo decided to keep to himself at his Rio de Janeiro home on Tuesday, following a scandal involving transvestites who worked as prostitutes.

A statement released by the player's advisers ruled out that Ronaldo may be required to testify again at the police station over the accusations that the transvestite Andre Luis Albertino - better known as "Andréia Albertine" - made against him. "Andreia" said Ronaldo refused to pay for her services and consumed cocaine.

"No criminal charges have been pressed against the sportsman Ronaldo, which eliminates any chance of him appearing at the police station," the statement said.

Earlier, police commissioner Carlos Augusto Nogueira told the media that Ronaldo would again be required for questioning next week.

Regarding allegations of cocaine use, the statement stressed that Ronaldo is an "activist for social causes" and "never used drugs". The striker was always "admired by children and teenagers in Brazil and around the world", the document said.

"The evidence points to an attempted extortion, in which the Milan striker is the only victim," the statement added.

Ronaldo's advisors said he will stay at his home in Rio de Janeiro for the coming days and undergo three sessions of physiotherapy there each day. In early May, he is set to return to Paris for "a last appointment with French doctor Gerard Saillant", who performed surgery on Ronaldo in February for a serious injury in his left knee.

The statement added that Ronaldo's recovery after he tore his left kneecap ligament is going well and that the player "can already achieve 110-degree movement with no pain on the joint."

According to the document, Ronaldo, 31, is planning to leave Brazil soon, at least until the fuss about the scandal dies down.

The striker allegedly sought pleasure Sunday night with prostitutes who turned out to be transvestites, and "Andreia Albertine" has accused him of refusing to pay for a night of sex at an hourly hotel in Rio de Janeiro.

In an interview which the daily Folha de Sao Paulo published Tuesday, "Andreia" insisted that the striker consumed cocaine and had homosexual sex with two other transvestites.

"Andreia" said Ronaldo refused to pay because "he was angry" with her two friends. She said the striker had given the two further transvestites 1,300 reais ($770) to pay for their sexual services and to get them to buy more drugs at a Rio slum.

"Instead of going out to buy it, they left," Albertino explained.

According to "Andreia", Ronaldo had sex with her two friends, aware that they were transvestites.

"He thought only I was a woman, the other two he realized were transvestites, dolls," she said, using Brazilian slang.

Ronaldo has accused "Andreia" of trying to blackmail him, and the transvestite said she is afraid of the resulting investigation.

"He is rich, he is Ronaldo, and he can buy even my mother (to testify) against me," she said.

Rio de Janeiro police have opened two parallel investigations of the case. One seeks to verify the accusations that "Andreia" made against Ronaldo, and the other seeks to establish whether the transvestite tried to blackmail the star footballer by demanding $30,000 in order not to tell the media about the incident.

Ronaldo, a three-time FIFA World Player of the Year, suffered his latest knee injury Feb 13 when he tore his left kneecap ligament while jumping for a cross in a 1-1 draw between Milan and Livorno.

He underwent surgery to repair it a day later in Paris and arrived in Rio de Janeiro this month to pursue his recovery. He said he expected it to take six or seven months.

Source : DPA