The Brazilian justice system ruled on Wednesday that Robinho, former Manchester City and Real Madrid striker, must serve a nine-year rape sentence handed down by an Italian court in Brazil. Judges in Brasilia voted nine to two following an Italian request for Robinho’s sentence to be served in Brazil.
Robinho’s involvement in the gang rape of a young Albanian woman during her 23rd birthday celebration at a Milan nightclub in 2013 led to the conviction. Despite his absence during the hearing, Robinho’s lawyers confirmed that he would remain free pending any potential appeal. Robson de Souza, known as Robinho, was playing for AC Milan at the time of the incident and received his conviction in 2017. Despite asserting his innocence, Italy’s highest court upheld his sentence in 2022, resulting in an international arrest warrant.
🚨⚖️ OFFICIAL! A judge in Brazil has ordered the arrest of Robinho after he was sentenced to 9 years in prison for his involvement in gang rape.
AdvertisementThe former Brazilian player will serve his prison sentence in Brazil.
(Source: @leiemcampo) pic.twitter.com/vHAiEXWNl9
— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) March 20, 2024
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Due to Brazil’s policy of not extraditing its citizens, Italy requested that Robinho serve his sentence in Brazil. In a recent interview with Brazilian network TV Record, Robinho claimed the encounter was consensual and criticized the Italian justice system, alleging racism. However, according to the complaint, Robinho and his co-defendants allegedly intoxicated the victim to the point of unconsciousness before engaging in multiple sexual acts.
Criticism has arisen regarding the Brazilian football authorities’ failure to address violence against women, particularly in light of Robinho’s case and that of former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain defender Dani Alves. Alves himself received a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence for raping a woman in a Barcelona nightclub. Subsequently, a court in Spain granted him release pending an appeal upon payment of a one-million-euro bail, a decision denounced by the victim’s lawyer as biased towards the wealthy.
