Star's case tests mores in Brazil

Many hold soccer players to a higher standard of machismo

By: JournalNow Staff | THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: May 04, 2008

In a city famed for sexual tolerance, the men who shine on the soccer field are held to a different, more macho standard.

Fans cringed on Monday when the Brazilian soccer icon Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima -- known simply as Ronaldo in the soccer world -- was questioned by police after he invited three male, cross-dressing prostitutes to a pay-by-the-hour motel room.

Ronaldo, the striker for Italy's Milan AC club, told police that he tried to send the transvestites away, with payment, after discovering that they were men. But one of the men argued that he was not given the agreed amount, and police intervened, making public a private moment that is exposing how seriously some Brazilians take soccer's manly culture.

Prostitution is legal here, and Ronaldo faces no criminal charges. His behavior was "at most, immoral," said Carlos Augusto Nogueira, the investigating officer.

But not all of Brazil's soccer fans seem ready to forgive and forget. Reports of Ronaldo's wild night, which ended around 8 a.m., have become Page 1 news here.

To be clear, the criticism that he is facing is nothing compared to the media frenzy that would likely have erupted in other countries where prostitution is illegal -- and sexual mores more rigid. Still, the fact that Ronaldo's misadventure has been front-page news here for several days is evidence that soccer stars are held to a different standard.

For those fans, the essence of the so-called "beautiful game" is deeply masculine, and its big-name players are expected to be exemplars of heterosexuality.

For Ronaldo, 31, proving his masculinity was never a problem. Since joining Brazil's national team at the age of 17, Ronaldo has been linked with a procession of gorgeous women, from models to celebrities.

Two former girlfriends who posed in Playboy in 1998 were dubbed "Ronaldinhas" in the magazine. A year after that, Ronaldo married and had a son. He was divorced after four years. He was later engaged to the Brazilian model and MTV VJ Daniela Cicarelli, and later dated the Brazilian model Raica Oliveira.

Now, his image as a legendary womanizer has been clouded by his apparent confusion over whether the prostitutes were even women.