Robinho sent to prison: will he actually serve the nine-year sentence?

A Brazilian court has decided to uphold an Italian court’s rape conviction and has handed a nine-year prison sentence to former Real Madrid and Manchester City star, Robinho.

The former AC Milan attacker, along with five other Brazilians, were found guilty of gang raping a 22-year-old Albanian woman in 2013 after plying her with alcohol. He was playing for the 7-time European champions at the time of the crime.

The decision by Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice (BSCJ) on Wednesday was made with a 9-2 vote to uphold the Italian court’s ruling.

The conviction was confirmed by an appeals court back in 2020 and validated by Italy’s supreme court in 2022. Robinho denies the charges and told a Brazilian network on Sunday that he was “unfairly convicted in Italy for something that did not occur” and called the sex “consensual”.

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Why did it take so long for Robinho to be convicted?

Robinho, whose full name is Robson De Souza, has been living in Brazil for the past 7 years and could have faced arrest if he had Travelled outside of Brazil. His native country does not extradite its nationals, which is why the player has been allowed to walk free for so long. Now retired, Robinho signed for Santos in 2020, and played a grand total of 0 Games before leaving the Game for good.

Ex-Manchester City star to be imprisoned in Brazil

Judges in Brasilia ruled on Wednesday that the 40-year-old, who played 41 times for City between 2008 and 2010, should serve his sentence in Brazil following a request from Italy.

Brazilian media outlet Globo says that Robinho will now be arrested in Santos, where he currently resides.

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Judge Francisco Falco said “there’s no obstacle to validate the execution of his sentence. It was confirmed by a court in Milan, which is the comPetent authority in this case. The conviction is final. The defendant was not put on trial in absence in Italy, he had representation.”

Robinho, however reportedly said that his conviction was in fact due to racism: “I was convicted in Italy unjustly for something that did not happen and I have all the evidence to show that. I played four years in Italy and I got tired of seeing stories of racism. Unfortunately, it happens today. That happened in 2013 and today we are in 2024, which leads me to believe that the same people who do nothing against racism are the same ones who they condemned at my trial. If my trial were for a white person, it would be totally different, without a doubt,” he concluded.