Robinho, sentenced by Italian justice to nine years in prison for gang rape, must serve his sentence in Brazil, judges of the South American country’s High Court ruled on Wednesday. The former footballer played for such teams as Real Madrid, Manchester City and Milan.

Convicted of rape in Italy, Robinho will serve his sentence in Brazil

The former forward, 40, who was found guilty by an Italian court of charges dating back to 2013 when he was a AC Milan player, should not be jailed immediately as further appeals are possible, including in Brazil’s Supreme Court. .

Brazil’s constitution does not allow the extradition of its citizens, so in February 2023 Italy requested that Robinho serve his sentence in his home country, which became possible because the Brazilian law came into force in 2017.

A former Brazil international who won 100 caps for his country has been found guilty in Italy of gang-raping a young Albanian woman who was celebrating her 23rd birthday in a Milan nightclub. According to the indictment, Robinho and five other Brazilians forced their victim to drink “until she lost consciousness and could not defend herself” and then had sex with her several times.

The former striker has always insisted on his innocence, as he did on Sunday, attributing his conviction to “racism”.

“It was something consensual. I never denied (that I had a relationship with the victim). I could deny it because my DNA was not found, but I am not a liar. I played in Italy for four years and saw many stories about racism (…). Those who condemned me are the same ones who do nothing about racism,” said Robinho in an interview with Brazilian TV Record.

Last week, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for Robinho to serve his sentence in his own country to “pay for his irresponsibility”.

The former footballer “was luckier than 99% of young Brazilians, he made a lot of money and became very famous. He didn’t need to do that,” added Lula, who considers rape an “unforgivable” crime.

Robson de Souza, known as Robinho, trained at Santos, King Pele’s club, played for big European clubs such as Real Madrid, Manchester City and AC Milan, but his career never took off those heights that she seemed to promise.

In 2020, he tried one last time to return to Santos, but his contract was terminated under pressure from fans and sponsors due to his rape conviction, thus ending his career, News.ro writes.