The vote was 9-2. Judges on Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice in Brasilia decided on Wednesday that Robinho must serve his nine-year rape sentence at home, and by Thursday he was in a police car.
The 40-year-old former striker left his apartment building in Santos, the beachfront city outside Sao Paulo, after losing his bid to stay free while he appeals. Earlier that day Supreme Court Justice Luiz Fux denied a habeas corpus request. Robinho’s lawyers want a new trial in Brazil on grounds of national sovereignty.
The court validated a conviction handed down in Italy in 2017. Robinho was sentenced there to nine years for his part in a group sexual assault in 2013, when he played for AC Milan. Brazil does not extradite its own nationals, so Italy asked that he be imprisoned in Brazil. “Brazil cannot be a shelter for criminals,” Judge Mauro Campbell Marques said in his vote.
Under Brazilian law, Robinho was expected to spend his first hours in custody at a hearing with a judge, who would look into possible illegalities in the proceedings leading to his arrest. After that he was to be taken to a penitentiary that authorities had not yet disclosed.
His defense
Robinho surrendered his passport to Brazilian authorities in March 2023. He denies any wrongdoing and says his sexual relations with the woman at a Milan bar were consensual.
In an interview with TV Record that aired on Sunday, he blamed racism for the Italian conviction. “I played only four years in Italy and I got tired of seeing stories of racism,” he said. “The same people who don’t do anything against it are the ones who sentenced me.”
The career
Robinho became a national name in 2002, at 18, when he led Santos to its first national title since the Pelé era. He did it again two years later. After winning the Confederations Cup with Brazil he went to Real Madrid, where he was less successful.
He joined Manchester City in 2008. A year later he was accused of rape after a night out in Leeds, but police did not file charges.
In 2010 he returned to Santos as a mentor to a young Neymar, won the Brazilian Cup, and earned a place in Brazil’s starting eleven for the World Cup that year. The Netherlands knocked Brazil out in the quarterfinals. Robinho then signed with AC Milan and won the Serie A title that season. After the Milan case he went back to Santos, with stints in China and Turkey.
Sources
- Former soccer star Robinho starts 9-year prison sentence in Brazil for 2013 rape in Italy
- Brazilian footballer Robinho starts 9-year prison term for rape – Türkiye Today
