Palmeiras said Sunday it is no longer interested in signing Ronaldinho, leaving popular Brazilian club Flamengo as the sole contender to acquire the player.
The announcement came a day after Gremio, the club where Ronaldinho started his career, also gave up on the player, accusing him and AC Milan of demanding too much. The collapse of the deal made Ronaldinho extremely unpopular in his hometown, where fans protested and a local congressman wanted to declare him persona non grata.
Fans in Porto Alegre described Ronaldinho as a ''mercenary'' and a ''traitor'' after the player dismissed a return to the club where he started playing at age seven. Palmeiras also criticized Ronaldinho, deploring the negotiating tactics used by his brother and agent, Roberto Assis.
A group of Gremio fans reportedly insulted Ronaldinho at a night club and he had to be escorted by security guards. Even football legend Pele took a shot at Ronaldinho, saying money shouldn't have been an issue for him at this stage of his career.
''If he really loves Gremio like he said, he should play there for free,'' Pele said.
Gremio withdrew its interest in signing Ronaldinho after saying that the demands from the player and AC Milan increased too much in the final stages of the negotiations, which the club said were nearly complete. A party was already being prepared to introduce the player.
Palmeiras president Luiz Gonzaga Belluzzo said he had been assured the player was going to close the deal with his club, which is coached by Luiz Felipe Scolari, but was surprised to hear through local media that Assis continued negotiating with other teams.
''We will never accept this type of behavior,'' Belluzzo said in a statement on the club's website.
The 30-year-old Ronaldinho had said he wanted to play for Gremio, but that the deal also depended on AC Milan, which has allowed the player to end his contract and return to Brazil in an attempt to revamp his career.
Congressman Gilmar Sossella said he is already preparing the petition to declare Ronaldinho a persona non grata in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, saying it is the second time that Ronaldinho has betrayed Gremio.
Gremio supporters resented Ronaldinho when he left the club in 2001 to sign with Paris Saint-Germain. Fans and club directors wanted him to stay but he negotiated a transfer to the French club despite publicly denying that he wanted to leave Gremio.
The congressman said on his website that words are ''worth more than a contract'' in the state.
Gremio president Paulo Odone also attacked Assis, saying the agent had told him that the deal was virtually sealed. Odone said lawyers from both sides were working on the seventh version of a contract for Ronaldinho's transfer.
The team's Olimpico Stadium was being prepared for the player's official introduction, with a sound system already in place for the party, which had to be abruptly canceled.
Some fans who went to the stadium for the announcement ended up staying to protest. Many held up signs calling Ronaldinho a ''traitor'', while others waved money at TV cameras, accusing him of being a ''mercenary.''
Milan vice president Adriano Galliani and Flamengo president Patricia Amorim said on Saturday that the deal to sign the two-time FIFA player of the year was 99.99 percent complete.
Flamengo said it was waiting for Ronaldinho's lawyers to review the contract, and the team was reportedly already planning a celebration, either on Copacabana Beach or at Maracanazinho Stadium.
Ronaldinho struggled to establish himself at Milan and is returning to Brazilian football to try to again become a regular in Brazil's national team and play in the 2014 World Cup that will be hosted by the South American country.
Ronaldinho played for Barcelona from 2003 until 2008, when he joined AC Milan.
Before facing Udinese at the San Siro stadium on Sunday, Milan fans held aloft a large banner bidding Ronaldinho farewell. It read, ''Ciao Ronaldinho thanks for everything and good luck.''
