Ex-Man City star Robinho will serve nine-year jail term over gang rape of woman in Italy

The supreme court in Brazil has ruled that former Manchester City striker Robinho should serve a nine-year jail sentence after he was found guilty of gang rape in Italy back in 2017.

Robinho was one of six men who were convicted of sexually assaulting a woman in an Italian nightclub back in January 2013. He was found guilty in November 2017 and has made several unsuccessful attempts to appeal the decision over the years.

The former Premier League star, 40, has spent the last seven years in his native Brazil despite his conviction by an Italian court. Italy previously issued an international arrest warrant but Robinho has remained a free man.

While he has continued to protest his innocence, Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice (BSCJ) have now reviewed Italy’s request with nine of the 15 ministers voting in favour of the former player serving said sentence in his home country.

The vote was to decide whether or not Robinho should serve the jail sentence, rather than a method to judge whether or not the former Santos and AC Milan star was guilty or not.

Italian law dictates that his sentence will not officially start until appeal processes have been completed.

As Brazilian citizens are not extradited, prosecutors in Italy argued last November that Robinho should serve his nine-year sentence in his home country. Brazil, on the other hand, had previously said any jail time should take place in Italy before the recent vote.

Robinho became one of Brazil’s most high-profile exports during his playing career and played for a host of high-profile clubs, including City, AC Milan and Real Madrid. He also won 100 caps for his country, scoring 28 goals.

He won both the La Liga title and the Serie A crown during his spells in Europe as well as the Copa America tournament with the Brazil national team.

Robinho lives in Santos, just outside Sao Paulo. He relinquished his passport to the authorities in Brazil last March.