Former Brazilian and Manchester City striker Robinho was arrested by federal police at his home in the city of Santos after a Brazilian court sentenced him to nine years in prison for rape for which he was convicted in Italy.
The 40-year-old footballer, whose full name is Robson de Sousa, was taken into custody on Thursday night after his lawyer’s attempts to delay his detention over a 2013 crime committed while he was an AC Milan player failed. . .
In 2017, a court in Milan convicted Robinho and five other Brazilians of gang-raping a woman after giving her alcohol at a discotheque.
The conviction was confirmed by the Court of Appeal in 2020 and upheld by Italy’s Supreme Court in 2022.
Robinho has always denied the charges.
On Thursday, Robinho arrived at the federal police headquarters in Santos, where he started his career in the 1990s, just after 8pm local time. Journalists and cameramen crowded around the police car that delivered him to the building, its lights flashing.
Brazilian media reports said Robinho will undergo a forensic examination before appearing for a detention hearing. The disgraced footballer will then be transferred to one of about 100 prisons in São Paulo state, where Santos is located.
Reports suggest he may end up serving his sentence in Tremembe City Prison, a city notorious for hosting “celebrity” convicts, including murderers and serial rapists. .
