SAO PAULO (AP) – Former soccer player Robinho began serving a nine-year prison sentence in his native Brazil on Thursday, more than a decade after he was first accused of raping a woman in Italy.
Robinho, 40, left his apartment in the seaside city of Santos, outside Sao Paulo, in a black police car after losing his bid to be released on appeal.
Brazil's High Court ruled Wednesday that Robinho was convicted of rape in Italy in 2017 and should serve his sentence in his home country.
Judges at Brazil's High Court in the capital Brasilia voted 9-2 to justify the former Real Madrid, Manchester City and AC Milan striker's conviction.
Robinho was sentenced to nine years in prison in Italy for his role in a gang sexual assault in 2013 while playing for AC Milan.
Earlier Thursday, Supreme Court Justice Louis Fax denied the former player's request for habeas corpus, which would have allowed him to remain free pending an appeal. His lawyers are seeking a new trial in Brazil, citing national sovereignty.
As required by Brazilian law, Robinho will spend the first hours of his detention in a hearing with a judge to discuss possible irregularities in the procedure that led to his arrest.
Robinho will then be transferred to prison, which authorities have not yet disclosed.
Brazil has not extradited its citizens, so Italy wants him to be imprisoned in his home country.
“Brazil cannot become a sanctuary for criminals,” Judge Mauro Campbell Marquez said in Wednesday's vote.
Robinho returned his passport to Brazilian authorities in March 2023. He continues to deny any wrongdoing and maintains that the sexual encounter with the woman in a Milan bar was consensual.
The former footballer said in an interview with TV Record broadcast on Sunday that racism was the reason for his conviction in Italy.
“I only played for four years in Italy, but I'm tired of seeing stories of racism. Unfortunately, it still exists to this day.[The rape incident]happened in 2013, but Now it's 2024. The same people who do nothing[against racism]have sentenced me,” Robinho said.
Robinho rose to national fame in 2002, at the age of 18, when he led Santos to their first national title since the Pele era. He did it again two years later. He won the Confederations Cup with Brazil and moved to Real Madrid, but was not very successful. The Brazilian joined Manchester City in 2008, but a year later he was accused of rape during a night out in Leeds. Police did not press charges.
Robinho returned to Santos in 2010 and became a mentor to the young Neymar. He won the Brazil Cup as a reference player for the promising teenager and earned a place in the starting eleven for Brazil's 2010 World Cup. His team lost to the Netherlands in the quarterfinals.
The Brazilian joined AC Milan after the World Cup and won the Serie A title that year. After the rape incident, he returned to Santos with stints in China and Turkey.
___
AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/Soccer