Brazilian footballer Ronaldo fears his reputation is ruined after the 31-year-old reportedly picked up three women in a Rio de Janeiro nightclub, and tried to pay them off after discovering they were transgendered.
One of them demanded 50,000 Brazilian Reals (NZ$37,500) to stay silent about the night's events.
'Andrea' says she has a receipt from Ronaldo of the purchase of three transvestites for Sunday night and also claimed the football star took drugs.
Ronaldo admitted he knew they were prostitutes when they met on Sunday night, but did not realize they were transvestites until they got to the motel.
Inspector Carlos Augusto Nogueira thinks Ronaldo may have been the target of a blackmail plot: "He just wanted to have fun and meet some other people outside his usual environment. He is quite shocked."
Now Ronaldo has told Brazilian TV: "I did not have any sexual dealings with those people, I must stress that I am not gay. When I told my girlfriend, she started to shout, scream and swear at me, I think she'll find it hard to forgive me."