Robson de Souza, also known as Robinho, a former football player for Manchester City and Brazil, was arrested in Santos, Brazil, to start serving a nine-year prison sentence for his 2017 Italian sexual assault conviction.
Robinho received a nine-year prison sentence for involvement in a group sexual assault incident in 2013 during his tenure with AC Milan. Due to Brazil’s policy against extraditing its citizens, Italy requested that he serve his sentence within Brazil.
However, the footballer was never arrested, as he left the country before the final sentencing. He also denies any wrongdoing. Robinho, 40, was taken into custody at his apartment located in his hometown of Santos on Thursday night.
On Wednesday, the decision by Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice was made with a 9-2 vote to uphold the Italian court’s ruling.
The Italian Supreme Court upheld his sentence in 2022 after he filed an unsuccessful appeal in 2020 following his conviction in 2017.
Recently, the 40-year-old claimed his nine-year prison sentence was a result of racism in Italy. Robinho reportedly told Record TV: “I was convicted in Italy unjustly for something that did not happen, and I have all the evidence to show that.
I played for 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 whom they condemned at my trial.
