Ex-Brazil footballer told to serve nine-year rape sentence
A court in Brazil has ruled that former Manchester City and Real Madrid forward Robinho must serve a nine-year prison sentence for rape in his home country.
The 40-year-old was convicted by an Italian court in 2017 for his involvement in the gang rape of a 22-year-old Albanian woman in 2013. As Brazil does not extradite its citizens, Robinho has been residing there.
On Wednesday, judges in Brasilia decided that he should serve his sentence in Brazil following a request from Italy. However, Robinho will remain free while any potential appeal against the ruling is being considered, according to his lawyers.
The former Brazil international, with 100 caps for his country, was playing for AC Milan at the time of the crime. Despite losing an appeal in 2020 and Italy’s highest court upholding his sentence in 2022, Robinho had remained in Brazil.
Italian authorities had issued an international arrest warrant for him. Robinho, in an interview with a Brazilian network on Sunday, claimed that the sexual encounter was consensual.
During his career, Robinho won two La Liga titles during his four seasons at Real Madrid before joining Manchester City for a then-British record fee of £32.5m in September 2008. He spent two seasons with City before moving to AC Milan, later playing for Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande and returning to Brazil with Atletico Mineiro.