Brazilian World Cup star Ronaldo takes three prostitutes to his hotel room... only to discover they are MEN

Police became involved when an "altercation" happened as the 31-year-old A C Milan striker came to the shocking realisation that the call girls he had paid to have group sex with after his night out were in fact transvestites.

Ronaldo, who is back in his hometown of Rio De Janeiro recovering from a career-threatening knee injury, had left a nightclub in the fashionable Barra da Tijuca neighbourhood on Sunday night with the paid-for company.

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Back in the room in the early hours of Monday morning, having discovered their true sex, Ronaldo is understood to have tried to resolve the situation by paying them each off with £300.

It was not clear yesterday how far the group had became acquainted before Ronaldo made his protestations about the fact that the call girls were in fact men.

It is understood that only two of the men agreed to accept the offer of £300. The third is alleged to have hastily hatched a plan to extort a further £15,000 from the footballer not to take the story to the media, police inspector Carlos Augusto Nogueira said.

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Police were yesterday still investigating what happened, but Nogueira said the altercation began when Ronaldo found out he was dealing with transvestites and not the female company he claims he had ordered.

The inspector said Ronaldo admitted he knew they were prostitutes when they met on Sunday night, but did not realize they were transvestites until they got back to the motel.

"He admitted to everything, he wanted to have fun," Nogueira said.

"I have to check both sides of the story, the transvestites' version and Ronaldo's", Nogueira added.

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"Ronaldo said he is not good in the head and that he is going through psychological problems because of his recent surgery," he said.

"But he committed no crime at all, it was immoral at best."

Prostitution was not illegal in Brazil.

The striker told police he offered to pay the transvestites anyway, but before he left one of them allegedly asked for £15,000 to hide the story from the media.

Nogueira said he believed Ronaldo's version because the transvestite decided to leave the police station even before being fully questioned by authorities.

The accused transvestite also accused Ronaldo of asking him to buy drugs.

In a statement to TV Globo, Ronaldo reiterated he was a victim of extortion and denied he has ever used drugs. Ronaldo said on Sunday he could be back in action in six months if his recovery continues to go as planned.

Ronaldo has won two World Cups with Brazil, including the 2002 when he scored eight goals, including two in the final against Germany.

In a statement, Ronaldo said he was a victim of extortion and would take all possible steps to clear his name. Representatives for Ronaldo were not immediately available for comment.

The three-time World Player of the Year suffered a career-threatening knee injury in February in a match against Livorno. Ronaldo suffered a similar injury in his right knee when playing for Inter Milan in 2000.