Former Real Madrid, Manchester City and Milan star Robinho has claimed that the colour of his skin played a part in his rape conviction in Italy. The 40-year-old was sentenced in Italy to nine years in prison for an incident in Milan in 2013 with a young Albanian woman.
However the Brazilian has not served any of his sentence, as Brazil have no extradition policy with nationals, but he could serve time in Brazil, depending on the decision of the Supreme Court on Wednesday. Robinho gave an interview claiming that he was innocent on Sunday night, and declaring that his conviction was racially motivated.
Robinho culpa o racismo na Itália por sua condenação em entrevista a Record.
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“I was convicted in Italy unjustly for something that did not happen and I have all the evidence to show that.”
The incident occurred in a nightclub, and saw his friend Ricardo Falco also convicted. Robinho claims he had a swift and consensual sexual relation with the girl, but Italian police say they have audio evidence that consent was not given.
“I played 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 who they condemned at my trial,” he told TV Record, as carried by Cadena Cope.
“If my trial were for a white person, it would be totally different, without a doubt.”
Robinho is just the latest footballer to face sexual assault or rape charges, and did not wade into the Dani Alves case – his former teammate has also been convicted of rape, although his sentence is currently set at half of what the Italian justice system sentenced Robinho to.
“I hope that in Brazil I can have the voice that I didn’t have elsewhere(…) I didn’t do anything, I didn’t commit any crime,” he defended.
