A court in Brazil has ordered the jailing of former football legend Ze Maria for failing to pay child support to his 21-year-old son.

According to the Justice of Sao Paulo, the former Corinthians and Brazil star owes more than BRL 82,000 (GBP 13,000) in overdue child support payments dated from September 2020 to April this year.

Because of the missing payments, the 74-year-old’s son said that he had been unable to fulfil his financial commitments, including for college, exchange programmes, theatre, medical expenses, clothing, and transportation.

The former defender insisted that he had always met his obligations through salary deductions.

However, he was dismissed from his position at an institution for juvenile offenders in July 2020 and only presented proof of payments from previous months, according to reports.

Ze Maria, whose senior career lasted from 1967 to 1984, said that he had requested the termination of the support order because his son owns a company.

The judge at the 12th Family and Succession Court pointed out that when asked about the missing payments, the former player “merely stated that he faces financial difficulties due to the pandemic, as his income solely comes from retirement”.

The magistrate also pointed out that he had failed to demonstrate an absolute inability to make the payments.

He stated: “The lack of another formal job does not exempt him from the obligation to provide support based on a percentage of his income.”

According to the ruling, Ze Maria did not demonstrate “at any time his reasons for non-payment of child support or propose any form of debt instalment, remaining inactive”.

Furthermore, he allowed the deadline to offer a defence and pay the outstanding support to pass without any response.

The court decision stated: “There is no other solution but to order the imprisonment of the defaulting debtor, as the creditors have been left unprotected for a long time.”

Following the ruling, Ze Maria’s lawyer said: “The justification for imprisonment for child support debt refers to current support, that is, immediate support, with the provision of a momentary need for receiving funds for survival.

“This is not the son’s condition.”

He reiterated that his client’s son was not in “immediate need” of receiving the funds.

Ze Maria’s defence said: “For these reasons, the supporter, who is 74 years old and has health problems, respectfully requests the reconsideration of the decision that ordered the civil imprisonment.”

However, the case judge did not grant the defence’s request.

The defence reiterated its request for the suspension of the arrest warrant, also stating that the amount of money stipulated was incorrect.

It claimed that there were payments that the former right-back had made that had not been taken into account.

Ze Maria, whose full name is Jose Maria Rodrigues Alves, also protested that the prison order poses “extreme risk to his integrity”, as he is diabetic and “requires special daily care”.

His defence added: “He also suffers from orthopaedic knee problems, such as severe osteoarthritis, which has led him to undergo surgeries, and the difficulties in his mobility continue to this day.”

Ze Maria, who originally hails from Botucatu, also played for Portuguesa and Inter de Limeira during his senior career.

He was a member of the victorious Brazilian squad at the 1970 FIFA World Cup as a reserve who did not play.

He played in four matches during the 1974 FIFA World Cup, in which Brazil came in fourth place.

He also had a brief stint as a manager at Corinthians.