The public prosecutor’s office in Milan (northern Italy) has issued an international arrest warrant and requested the extradition of Brazilian footballer Robinho, who has been definitively sentenced to nine years in prison for meeting violations, according to Italian press agencies. It is highly unlikely that the player, who is in Brazil, will be extradited to Italy, as the Constitution of Brazil prohibits the extradition of its nationals. The international arrest warrant, on the other hand, presents a risk for him because he could, in the event of a trip abroad, be arrested in a country having agreements with Italy providing for extradition, according to the media.

“For us it doesn’t matter if he serves his sentence in Italy or in Brazil. The important thing is that he serves it, especially given the offense committed and to protect women,” Jacopo told AFP. Gnocchi, the victim’s attorney. The Italian Court of Cassation confirmed in January the nine-year prison sentence for gang rape of a young woman.

The magistrates of the highest Italian court had “considered that the appeal lodged by the player was inadmissible and that the conviction was therefore final”, Jacopo Gnocchi had then declared to the press. “In total, fifteen Italian magistrates have proved that the charges have been amply proven. Our wish is that Brazil executes the sentence,” he added.

The dates back to January 2013, when Robinho was playing at AC Milan.

According to media at the time, Robinho and five of his friends allegedly made a 22-year-old Albanian woman drink “to the point of rendering her unconscious and unable to resist”. They would then have had “multiple and consecutive sexual relations” with her.

A court in the Lombard city found him guilty in 2017 of gang rape on this young woman and sentenced him to nine years in prison. This sentence was pronounced on appeal in December 2020.

Robinho was previously temporarily arrested in England in 2009 on suspicion of raping a woman at a Leeds nightclub.