A former Barcelona and Middlesbrough midfielder has made a shock return to football six years after he was arrested for participating in cockfighting.
Brazilian amateur club Guarany de Xaxim, who play in the regional Santa Catarina Championship, confirmed the signature of Fabio Rochemback on a short-term deal.
Rochemback has returned to football ten years after he first retiredGetty
The 43-year-old last played football in 2014 for Brazilian amateur side in Ipiranga.
However, Rochemback is best known for his stints at LaLiga giants Barcelona and former Premier League side Middlesbrough.
The Brazilian moved to the Spanish heavyweights in July 2001 and went on to make 68 appearances where he played alongside the likes of World Cup winners Xavi, Carles Puyol and Andres Iniesta.
Rochemback’s stint in the Catalan capital lasted two seasons as he was sent out on loan to Portuguese club Sporting, where he helped them to a runners-up finish in the 2004/05 UEFA Cup.
The seven-time Brazilian international then moved to Middlesbrough on August 31 in 2005 after he impressed then-Boro boss Steve McLaren.
Rochemback spent three seasons on Teesside as Boro finished 14th, 12th and 13th in the Premier League.
However, he did play a key role in the club’s stunning run to the UEFA Cup final in 2006, starting the showpiece final which Boro lost 4-0.
Rochemback ultimately made 91 appearances for Middlesbrough across all competitions before he went back to Sporting in May 2008.
Stints at Brazilian side Gremio and Chinese Super League team Dalian Aerbin followed before he returned home once more for a final spell at Ipiranga.
Rochemback returned to the headlines in 2017 when he was arrested in Palmeiras das Missoes over his participation in a cockfighting ring.
Rochemback was at the Riverside Stadium for three yearsGetty
Local police raided a fight night held at a farm in which they confiscated 89 roosters and seized £75,000 in cash as 57 people were arrested out of 147 attendees.
Rochemback’s father, Juarez, protested his son’s innocence and claimed he was not at the scene during the raid, instead stating the former Middlesbrough man was at the family farm.
All forms of animal fighting is classified as an environmental crime in Brazil.
Rochemback had previously fallen foul of the law regarding cockfighting when police discovered fighting roosters at his farm in Rio Grande do Sul in 2011.
