The Italian Supreme Court confirmed today, Wednesday, the sentence imposed on former Brazilian international Robinho, to 9 years in prison for raping a woman in 2013, according to the victim's lawyer.
Judges of the Court of Cassation in Rome confirmed the verdict, in the crime dating back to January 2013, when the Brazilian player was with the Milan team.
Lawyer Jacobo Nyuki said the judges "have considered the player's appeal inadmissible, and therefore the verdict is final".
Robinho, 37, who did not attend any of the hearings related to the case, was among a group of six people accused of participating in the gang rape of an Albanian woman celebrating her 23rd birthday in a Milan nightclub.
"A total of 15 Italian judges consider the charges to be broadly proven. We hope that Brazil will implement the verdict," Nyuki added.
The court had previously ordered the ex-samba player and his friend Ricardo Falcao to jointly pay compensation to the woman, the subject of the lawsuit, of 60,000 euros, while preventing the trial for the remaining four people.
Globo Sports TV has published excerpts from a recording that Italian prosecutors used to secure the player's conviction, in which Robinho claims: "I'm laughing because I don't care. The woman was so drunk she doesn't even know what happened."
Robinho was forced to terminate his contract with the Brazilian Santos in light of the pressures that were put on the team against the background of his conviction.
The former player had consistently rejected allegations of his participation in gang rape.
After this final decision, the Italian judicial system can ask its Brazilian counterpart to extradite Robinho, but the latter refuses to extradite any accused citizen to another country.
Faced with this situation, Italy will be able to ask these two players to serve their sentences in the Brazilian prison.
And in October 2020, Brazil's Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights told reporters, "Immediately imprison him, I have nothing more to say... There is still an appeal, but what more do you want? ... You cannot applaud a rapist."
Robinho began his football career in Santos in 2002 and joined Real Madrid in 2005, then played with Manchester City from 2008 to 2010, and Milan for 4 years until 2014, he also played in China with Guangzhou Evergrande, Atletico Mineiro in Brazil, and Turkish Basaksehir.
This accused player played 100 matches for his country, during which he scored 28 goals.