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Ex-Brazil star Robinho starts 9-year prison sentence for rape

Former soccer star Robinho started serving a nine-year prison sentence in his native Brazil on Thursday more than 10 years after he was first accused of raping a woman in Italy.

The 40-year-old Robinho left his apartment building in the beachfront city of Santos, outside Sao Paulo, in a black police car after losing a bid to remain free pending appeals.

A Brazilian high court ruled Wednesday that Robinho must serve his sentence in his home nation as a result of his 2017 rape conviction in Italy.

Judges on Brazil's Superior Court of Justice in the capital city of Brasilia voted 9-2 to validate the conviction of the former Real Madrid, Manchester City and AC Milan forward.

Robinho was sentenced in Italy to nine years in prison for his part in a group sexual assault in 2013 when he played for AC Milan.


A police car arrives at the entrance to the Federal Police headquarters in Santos, outside Sao Paulo, on Thursday. MIGUEL SCHINCARIOL/AFP via Getty Images
Earlier on Thursday, Supreme Court Justice Luiz Fux denied a habeas corpus request that would have allowed the former player to remain free pending appeals. His lawyers want a new trial in Brazil on the grounds of national sovereignty.

As Brazilian law requires, Robinho is expected to spend his first hours in custody at a hearing with a judge to discuss possible illegalities in the proceedings that led to his arrest.

Robinho will then be taken to a penitentiary, which authorities have yet to disclose.

Brazil doesn't extradite nationals, which led Italy to seek his imprisonment in his home nation.

"Brazil cannot be a shelter for criminals," judge Mauro Campbell Marques said during his vote on Wednesday.

Robinho relinquished his passport to Brazilian authorities in March 2023. He continues to deny any wrongdoing and insists his sexual relations with the woman at a Milan bar were consensual.

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Neymar's dad says family won't bail Alves out
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The former footballer said in an interview with TV Record aired on Sunday that racism was to blame for his conviction in Italy.

"I played only four years in Italy and I got tired of seeing stories of racism. Unfortunately that exists to this day. [The rape case] was in 2013, now we are in 2024. The same people who don't do anything against it [racism] are the ones who sentenced me," Robinho said.

Robinho rose to national fame in 2002 as a 18-year-old who led Santos to its first national title since the Pelé era. He did it again two years later. He won the Confederations Cup with Brazil and left for Real Madrid, where he wasn't as successful. The Brazilian joined Manchester City in 2008 and one year later was accused of rape during a night out in Leeds. Police did not file charges.

Robinho returned to Santos in 2010 to be a mentor to a young Neymar. He won the Brazilian Cup as a reference for the promising teenager and earned a place in Brazil's starting eleven for the 2010 World Cup. His team was knocked out in the quarterfinals by the Netherlands.

The Brazilian joined AC Milan after the World Cup and won the Serie A title that year. Following the rape case, he rejoined Santos along with stints in China and Turkey.

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Neymar's father says family won't bail Dani Alves out
Associated Press
Mar 21, 2024, 10:49 PM
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The father of Brazil star Neymar Jr. said Thursday that his family won't pay the €1 million ($1.1 million) required to bail Dani Alves out of a Spanish prison, where the former Brazil defender awaits the result of an appeal to his rape conviction.

Neymar da Silva Santos Sr. said in a statement on behalf of his family that they financially supported Alves during his trial, but that they won't do it again since the former player was found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in a Barcelona nightclub in 2022.

"For us, for my family, this matter is over. Full stop," Neymar da Silva Santos Sr. said.

The 40-year-old Alves was sentenced to four years, six months in prison. He is being held at a jail outside Barcelona.

Neymar's father didn't specify how much they gave Alves but added that it's a "different situation" now because the three-judge panel at the Barcelona Provincial Court ruled against Alves.

"With the Spanish court ruling for his conviction, there's speculation and an attempt to associate my name and my son's to a matter that is not within our reach any longer," Neymar's father said in the family's statement.

He added that he hopes Alves "can find all the answers he looks for in his own family."


Dani Alves was sentenced to 4½ years in prison last month. ALBERTO ESTEVEZALBERTO ESTEVEZ/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
The prison term is near the lowest sentence for a rape conviction, which when the attack took place was penalized by four to 12 years under Spanish law. The court in its sentence said it considered favorably for Alves that he had "before the trial paid the court €150,000 to be given to the victim without any conditions attached."

Neymar Jr. and Alves were teammates at Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain and for Brazil. Neymar now plays for Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia.

Alves, who has denied wrongdoing in the case, has remained in custody since being arrested in January 2023.

Alves' prior requests to be released on bail were denied because the court deemed him a flight risk.

Brazil does not extradite its own citizens when they are sentenced in other countries.

As a bail condition, Alves would be required to hand over his Brazilian and Spanish passports. He is prohibited from leaving Spain. He still has a residence near Barcelona.

Alves won dozens of titles with elite clubs, including Barcelona. He helped Brazil win two Copa Americas and an Olympic gold medal. He played for Barcelona from 2008 to 2016, helping to win three Champions Leagues, and briefly rejoined the club in 2022.

The Brazilian soccer confederation has yet to comment on the Alves case, and the head of its delegation for two friendlies in Europe said Thursday that the topic is being ignored.

Leila Pereira, the chairwoman of Brazilian club Palmeiras, spoke from London, where Brazil will face England on Saturday.

"Nobody says anything, but as a woman here at the head of the delegation, I have to take a stand on the cases of Robinho and Daniel Alves," she told Brazil's news website UOL ahead of the match that will mark the debut of Brazil coach Dorival Júnior.

Former Real Madrid and AC Milan striker Robinho was convicted of rape in Italy but will serve his nine-year sentence in Brazil after a decision of one of the country's highest courts on Wednesday.

The 40-year-old began his sentence Thursday after he left his apartment building in the beachfront city of Santos, outside Sao Paulo, in a black police car having lost a bid to remain free pending appeals.

"It is a slap in the face for all of us women, especially the case of Daniel Alves, who paid for freedom," Pereira added. "It is important for me to have my position. Each case of impunity is the seed for the next crime."

Brazil's president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, also criticised the Spanish court's move to grant bail to Alves. He spoke Wednesday during a celebration of his Workers' Party.

"It is against these injustices that we cannot be silent about. Money cannot buy dignity," Lula said during the event in the capital city of Brasilia. "The money that Dani Alves has, the money that someone else might have lent him, it cannot pay for the crime that a man commits against a woman by raping her."

Weeks before Robinho's trial at Brazil's high court, Lula said the former footballer should serve his sentence in Brazil.

Alves and Robinho are a staunch supporters of Lula's predecessor, former President Jair Bolsonaro.

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Footballers are the most ruthless rape targets. All they do is to waste there resources on women and expensive clubs.
This women know and when lure into there den, the rest will be prison and fine upto £1M.
Ronaldo, Kante, Harry Maiguare, Mane, Salah, Musa, are well cultured to the core. Emulate this peers.

He was such a bright star until his actions off the field started affecting his career.Dani Alves followed his footsteps.