The last ex-footballer most would have imagined to forge a successful career in politics was Romário. However, unlike his playing days where the Brazilian relied on his self-proclaimed God-given ability to get by, Romário took his new vocation in complete earnest. Eager to be taken seriously as a politician, Baixinho began to shake off his bad-boy tag and replace it with an entirely reformed attitude. Famously shy about training, Romário's new-found conscientiousness resulted in him having one of the best attendance records of any MP - despite living some 900km away from the Brasília parliament. Unfortunately, politics and scandal tend to go hand-in-hand, and despite the best efforts to clean up his character, Romário still could not escape personal impropriety. After being spectacularly elected to the Brazilian senate in a landslide Rio vote, the former forward set about tackling corruption within the state. But his campaign was soon undermined by a report from weekly magazine VEJA, which claimed the senator had a Swiss bank account containing a cool, untaxed SFr 2,164,367 (just over £1.5 million). Romário immediately denied any knowledge of the money, but the magazine was determined to amplify the sleaze by claiming the former-footballer's lavish accommodation and lifestyle rendered him more than capable of settling the unpaid taxes on the illegal account. After flying to Geneva with his French-fluent ex-wife, Romário eventually received a letter from Banca Svizzerra Italiana discrediting VEJA's accusations as hokum. The magazine issued an apology to the politician, but the matter was not at a rest. Romário, his reputation now tarnished by the false allegations, sued the publication for moral damages. By aiming to disprove his greed, the ex-footballer hoped to accrue damages of £15 million - ten times the stated amount in the bogus account.
Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know).
He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.
