SAO PAOLO: Flamengo could end up losing Ronaldinho after Brazil’s most popular club ended their partnership with sports marketing group Traffic.

Traffic have been paying the majority of Ronaldinho’s salary, and Flamengo will now have to find ways to come up with the nearly US$700,000 that the player reportedly receives.

Team president Patricia Amorim said on Wednesday she was confident Flamengo will still be able to pay Ro­­naldinho, but acknowledges the club will have to increase their revenue.

She says Flamengo will inherit the rights to Ronaldinho’s image and that should allow the club to make some extra money.

Ronaldinho’s wages were delayed for several months last year.

The club and Traffic had been trying to reach a new agreement on a contract involving the rights to explore the player’s image for quite some time. Both sides are blaming each other for the split.

Traffic said they were not given priority to negotiate deals with sponsors that could increase the team’s revenue, while Flamengo said the marketing group was responsible for delaying the wages of the two-time FIFA Player of the Year.

Last week, Ronaldinho threatened not to play if he wasn’t paid the nearly US$2.1mil that was reportedly owed to him.

Ronaldinho’s agent and brother, Roberto Assis Moreira, said teams in and outside Brazil are interested in signing the 31-year-old former Bar­celona star if he was not paid. — AP

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