Former AC Milan and Barcelona playmaker Ronaldinho has walked out on Flamengo after deciding to sue the Brazilian club for unpaid salaries and delayed payments of a reported value of $20m (£13m).
The 32-year-old's lawyer Gislaine Nunes said on Thursday that a judge ruled in favour of the player's request to have his contract terminated.
Nunes wants the club to pay everything they claim it owes to the 2004 and 2005 FIFA player of the year in wages and other rights.
"We didn't expect an attitude like this," Flamengo president Patricia Amorim said. "Now the case is in the hands of our legal department, which will take the necessary legal measures to defend the interests of Flamengo.
"The club is greater than any person and it's going to be like this forever."
Ronaldinho took to Twitter to bid the Flamengo fans farewell, writing: "I would like to thank once again all the support that I received at this club and I would like to say, from the bottom of my heart, that playing at Flamengo was an honour."
Ronaldinho signed for Flamengo in 2011 after spending three years at AC Milan.
Pascal Lemesre
