Brazilian club Sao Paulo say they have pulled out of talks with 2002 World Cup winner Rivaldo because they cannot afford him.
"There's no chance of Rivaldo being signed, Sao Paulo are a responsible club and are not going to pay over our limits," Juvenal Juvencio, the club's director of football, said today.
Sao Paulo, who finished third in the Brazilian championship that ended 10 days ago, had been looking for partners to invest in Rivaldo but failed to close a deal with potential sponsors before today's talks.
Rivaldo's agent Carlos Arini said Sao Paulo had failed to make a concrete offer for the 31-year-old, who was released by Italian club AC Milan earlier this month.
Rivaldo joined Milan from Barcelona after winning the World Cup with Brazil in 2002, but never managed to reproduce the form that made him a success in Spain.
