Former Manchester United midfielder Anderson has been ordered to serve prison time over a reported failure to pay child maintenance.
The 37-year-old has been warned he can be held behind bars for 30 days unless he hands over the £142,000 he is said to owe.
The decision was taken on September 3 by a family court judge in the retired footballer’s southern Brazilian home city of Porto Alegre but only emerged overnight.
Brazilian press say international Anderson, who won the Premier League four times with Man United after signing for the club from Porto in July 2007, will be confined to his cell and closely supervised under a tough ‘closed regime’ if there is space for him in local jails unless he makes an eleventh-hour payment.
They are reporting he will be allowed out to study or do community work during the day, but have to return to his lock-up at night, under a more lax ‘semi-open regime’ only if there is prison overcrowding.
The court decision is understood to be based on the alimony payments Anderson owed as of July 28 of just over one million Brazilian reais – around £142,000.
Manchester United legend Anderson (bottom left) faces jail time over his failure to pay child maintenance totalling £142,000
The Brazilian footballer recently revealed he is father to nine children
One of Anderson’s recent posts is dedicated to his children, who he calls his ‘treasures’
The former footballer, who also played for Fiorentina in Italy and Internacional in his homeland before hanging up his boots aged just 31, has yet to make any official comment.
His lawyer Julio Cezar Coitinho Jr confirmed to local press the case involved minors but said he couldn’t comment because of a secrecy order.
Anderson was at the centre of controversy in his homeland five years ago after being accused of laundering £4.7 million though cryptocurrencies.
He was named by Brazilian newspaper Globo at the time as one of eight people under investigation by a state prosecutor into a scheme designed to divert the cash from the state stock exchange.
It was not immediately clear today if the investigation is ongoing.
Anderson, full name Anderson Luis de Abreu Oliveira, was said to be father to four children in 2015 and NINE children at the start of last year when he recalled his time at Manchester United in an interview with a Brazilian newspaper.
He revealed he and his former Portuguese teammate Nani were ‘adopted’ by Cristiano Ronaldo for nearly a year while they slept at his house, saying their beds were stretchers.
He said: ‘I thank him very much. He adopted me. We lived at Ronaldo’s house for almost a year. We left because we wanted to leave.
Brazilian midfielder Anderson (left) was part of United’s iconic team that won the Champions League in 2008
‘For him we could have stayed there. We didn’t spend anything. The guy took us to training, fed us, had a cook for us. There was a swimming pool inside and outside the house, a jacuzzi, and a tennis court.’
Anderson was capped eight times for his country. He made his Brazil debut during the 2007 Copa America, which they went on to win.
He also played for the Brazil Olympic football team during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, helping them secure the bronze medal.
He scored his first goal for Manchester United in the Audi Cup friendly tournament against Boca Juniors in July 2009, two years after signing a five-year contract with the club to become its second Brazilian player after Kleberson.
Anderson signed a new four-and-a-half year contract with United in December 2010, switching to Brazilian club Sport Club Internacional on a free transfer during the 2014-15 season after falling out of favour.
