January 19, (THEWILL) – Robson de Souza, more commonly known as Robinho, the former Brazil striker, has been given a nine-year jail term for his role in a violent sexual assault in a Milan bar in 2013.
Robinho, who was playing for AC Milan at the time, was alleged to have been a member of a gang that gang-raped a 23-year-old Albanian woman at the Sio Cafe nightclub in 2017. He was convicted and sentenced in 2017 and has lost two appeals.
The 37-year-old ex-footballer no longer has the opportunity to appeal, therefore the Rome court’s latest decision is irrevocable. It is unclear if he will serve his term in a Brazilian or an Italian prison.
Ricardo Falco, a friend of Robinho’s, is in the same boat, while four others fled the country before being charged and convicted. At 37, Robinho was still playing professional football in 2020, three years after receiving his original sentence and seven years after the crime was committed.
In the defence of their client, Robinho’s legal representation tried to disparage the victim.
The former Brazil international claimed the relationship was consensual, while alleging that the Albanian woman they assaulted was a heavy drinker.
However, the guilty verdict of 2017 was upheld by the Milan appeals court in 2020, saying that “the victim was humiliated and used by the player and his friends to satisfy their sexual urges”
Now, a judiciary in Rome has affirmed the original conviction, and the former Manchester City player will have to pay the victim 60,000 euros in damages, as stipulated in the 2017 ruling.
Robinho’s lawyers are not optimistic that he would be permitted to serve his term in a Brazilian prison.
It is expected that Italy will request this, but, as Brazilians cannot be extradited by other countries, Brazil may refuse and prefer that the ex-Real Madrid man serve his sentence in Italy.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
