On his way to Dubai from Kolkata, where he had spent the previous two days and attended a number of events, Brazilian legend Ronaldinho Gaucho spent a busy 12 hours in Dhaka yesterday. He was on his way from Kolkata.
The 43-year-old former player from Brazil, who won the World Cup in 2014, arrived in Dhaka at approximately 3:45 p.m. and left the capital of Bangladesh in the early hours of Thursday, amidst a lot of media frenzy but with very limited to no opportunities for the media to interact with the World Cup winner.
In his 17 years as a professional football player, Ronaldinho won practically every individual and team award there is, including the World Cup, the Confederations Cup, the Copa America, the UEFA Champions League, and the Ballon d’Or. Upon his arrival in Kolkata, he was rushed to the Radisson Blu Hotel, where he would spend the rest of his career.
The highlight of Ronaldinho’s trip was an afternoon excursion to the Prime Minister’s Office, when he paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and took selfies with both the Prime Minister and her sister, Sheikh Rehana. Ronaldinho formerly played for Paris Saint-Germain, Milan, and Barcelona.
The Brazilian guest arrived at the hotel in the later hours of the evening to take part in a meet-and-greet event themed “Magical night with Ronaldinho.” It was a private function to which only a small number of visitors were invited, and among those attendees were the captains of the Bangladeshi football teams for both the men’s and women’s teams, Jamal Bhuiyan and Sabina Khatun.
Before Jamal had the chance to meet Ronaldinho, he talked to the media about how excited he was about the possibility. “Because I’m going to meet my hero, I can’t help but feel a surge of pride. My family is here with me so that we may meet and greet him when he arrives. For me, this is a momentous occasion because I have been a fan of Ronaldinho since 2002.
In spite of this, the event was disrupted by a scuffle that occurred between the organisers and members of the media, who were asked to leave the venue prior to the beginning of the event.
A sports promoter based in Kolkata named Satadru Dutta was responsible for bringing Argentina’s World Cup winning custodian to both Kolkata and Dhaka in July of this year. An advertising company worked in conjunction with Satadru Dutta to plan Ronaldinho’s brief visit in Dhaka.