Robinho has NINE-YEAR prison sentence for gang rape conviction upheld

Milan’s Court of Appeal has upheld the decision to hand former Manchester City forward Robinho a nine-year prison sentence for his role in a gang rape. 

Robinho, 37, was originally found guilty in 2017 before he was sentenced in December. 

The rape of a 23-year-old Albanian woman on her birthday took place in Italy in 2013 at a nightclub and while Robinho has denied the charges and as such appealed the verdict, the court ruled he ‘belittled’ and ‘brutally humiliated’ the woman in question.  

Robinho has seen a nine-year prison sentence on a gang rape charge upheld on appeal

Robinho’s conviction was upheld alongside that of his friend Richard Falco, who was also charged for the offence.

The Court of Appeal accused Robinho of attempting ‘to defraud the investigations by offering the investigators’ differing versions on ‘previously agreed facts’.

Key evidence that was used to initially convict the Brazilian last year was intercepted phone calls and messages between the footballer and those allegedly involved in the attack, in which Robinho allegedly said ‘the woman was completely drunk’. 

The Brazilian was playing for AC Milan at the time of the incident at a nightclub back in 2013

Robinho’s contract at Santos has been suspended as he appeals his conviction for rape in Italy 

His lawyers batted away evidence from leaked phone calls that claimed he said the accuser was ‘completely drunk’, saying they ‘have not been correctly translated into the Italian language’ by the justice system. But he now faces one final chance to clear his name in the courts.

Following the upheld verdict, Robinho now has 45 days to submit a further appeal to the Supreme Court, the highest court of appeal in Italy.

In Italy, no prison sentence is enforced until all avenues of appeal have been exhausted. 

Robinho had his contract with Brazilian club Santos suspended in the build up to the appeal hearing, after their sponsor Orthopride ended their relationship with the club over his new deal. 

And club president Orlando Rollo previously confirmed the player will be sacked if the decision is upheld – a verdict relayed on Wednesday. 

Robinho said his only regret was cheating on his wife of eleven years, Vivian (pictured)

In December last year, Robinho gave an interview to UOL Esporte in which he claimed he had consensual sex with the woman in question as he continues to deny charges of rape 

The former Man City and Real Madrid star has continued to profess his innocence and gave an interview to Brazil outlet UOL in December in which he admitted he had come into contact with the victim, but insisted the situation was consensual.  

‘A girl approached me, we started to have contact with her consent and mine too… then I went home,’ he said.

Robinho said that, after leaving, his friends stayed with the accuser and had consensual sex with her, before insisting that he cannot speak for them.

He maintained his only regret was cheating on his wife, Vivian. 

Robinho was playing for AC Milan at the time of the incident.