RIO DE JANEIRO, April 28 (Xinhua) -- A Brazilian transvestite called Andrea Albertino, who works as a prostitute in Rio, charged Milan's forward Ronaldo with refusing to pay for a night they had allegedly spent together, the local press informed on Monday evening.

      Apart from refusing to pay for the service, Albertino told the police that Ronaldo threatened to beat him and his friends up.

      The Brazilian player, who is Rio to rest from a surgery on his knee, told the police that he was a victim of Albertino, who allegedly attempted to extort money from him.

      In his version of the story, Ronaldo said that he went to a nightclub in the Barra da Tijuca district, Rio's west zone, on Sunday evening, following the game between Flamengo and Botafogo, which fight for the local state championship title.

      There, the forward admitted to having met a girl named Andrea, who introduced him to two other friends, and they went to a hotel in the district.

      According to Ronaldo, when he noticed that the three were actually transvestites, he offered 1,000 reais (595,200 U.S. dollars) to each of them, in order to call off the service. However, Albertino allegedly refused the offer, and asked for 50,000 reais (29,700 U.S. dollars) so as not to call the police, which Ronaldo did not accept to pay.

      Police Chief Carlos Augusto Nogueira Pinto told the press that, in his testimony, Ronaldo explained that he wanted to "have fun and relax", as he had been having "psychological problems due to his physical state" and decided to go out with people "from outside his circle".

      Pinto added that it is not yet possible to say whether the case will lead to investigations.

      The player's press agents said that Ronaldo will not make comments on the case to the press for the moment.