Former Real Madrid and Brazil forward Robinho has been sentenced to nine years in prison after being found guilty of sexual assault.
Robson De Souza, known as Robinho to the footballing world, was found guilty and sentenced following an incident in 2013 involving a 22-year-old Albanian woman. According to Football Italia, the assault occurred on January 22nd 2013 at Milanese disco, a time in which the 33 year old was contacted at AC Milan. Additionally, five other men have been found guilty in the same case.
The report delineated that the Brazilian will be allowed an opportunity to dispute the sentence, following the Italian law system, which allows for “several levels of appeal” to be lodged before any sentence is imposed.
Robinho, who was once dubbed as being the next big thing, came up at a time where the Brazilian national team reigned dominant in the world of international football. Playing alongside legends such as Ronaldinho, Gilberto Silva and Roberto Carlos, just to name a few; the future seemed extremely bright for the small forward.
During his career, he played at some of the biggest clubs in football, spending time with the likes of Manchester City, AC Milan and Spanish giants Real Madrid, before moving to China and back to Brazil within the space of a few years. With 135 club goals in all of his 439 appearances, Robinho has joined the list of unfortunate Brazilian prospects that went on to venture down more sinister paths, instead of maximising their gifts as potentially world-class footballers. Similarly, promising striker Adriano, who emerged during the 2006 Fifa World Cup fell under the radar after drug trafficking charges in 2010.
Robinho is currently signed to Atletico Mineiro in his native Brazil, having moved back to the Brasileiro Serie A after a brief spell at Chinese Super League outfit Guangzhou Evergrande back in 2015.
The 33 year old was also accused of raping a student in a Leeds nightclub in 2009, however it was announced in April of the same year that he would be not face charges.