AC Milan and Brazil striker Ronaldo is worried that Monday's sex and drugs scandal in Brazil involving three transvetite prostitutes could ruin his football career.
Police chief Carlos Nogueira, who questioned the soccer star over the incident in Barra da Tijuca, described Ronaldo as ''desperate''.
''Ronaldo told me that he didn't deserve what was happening to him. He said he was a sporting champion, that he has never and would never take cocaine. He said this could put an end to his career,'' Nogueira said.
Ronaldo issued a statement to the press after the incident, during which one of the transvestites claims he asked her to go out and buy him some cocaine.
''With regard to recent events and with the aim of clarifying my position, I maintain that I have never used drugs,'' the footballer said.
The Brazil great, who is back home to recover from knee surgery, picked up what he thought was a female prostitute in the early morning hours of Monday and took her to a motel.
''He said he needed a girl to unwind,'' Nogueira explained. ''The girl called two friends and shortly afterwards Ronaldo realised they were transvestites: that's when the trouble started''.
Local press said the football player offered to pay the prostitutes just the same but refused their 'services'.
However, one of the transvestites, identified as Andre' Luis Ribeiro, known as Albertine, demanded 20,000 euros to keep the story a secret.
Ronaldo apparently refused to pay and Albertine called police to accuse the soccer star of not paying and of taking drugs.
He also posted a video clip on YouTube showing Ronaldo in a Flemengo soccer jersey with the three transvestites.
The AC Milan star denied to police that he had taken drugs and said he was not even drunk.
Police found no evidence of drug use in the hotel room and Ronaldo told them that he paid the transvestites some 400 euros each after he discovered they were males.
Investigators are said to suspect that the striker had been the victim of a 'sting' and believe his version of the events is the closest to the truth.
According to a police official quoted by the Brazilian press, Ronaldo was ''very nervous because he didn't want everyone to know what happened. But in the end he was able to joke about it. He told me he was having some psychological problems linked with his recovery''.
The three-time World Player of the Year, 31, ruptured the main tendon in his left knee against Livorno on February 13 - a very serious injury that often spells the end of players' careers.
Ronaldo is out for at least the rest of the season as he undergoes a nine-month rehabilitation programme.
The record scorer in World Cup history suffered a similar injury to his other knee in November 1999, while playing for Milan's cross-city rival Inter.
Top Paris surgeon Gerard Saillant repaired the break and he supervised the latest surgery.
On his first comeback in April 2000, Ronaldo only lasted seven minutes before the tendon snapped again.
After more thorough reconstructive surgery in Paris, he was out for another 20 months.
Ronaldo's current contract with Milan runs out in June.
