The Malta Independent on Sunday
Brazil’s football head says rape convictions for Alves and Robinho end "nefarious chapter"
Brazil's soccer federation presi‐ dent Ednaldo Rodrigues said Fri‐ day that the rape convictions of former footballers Dani Alves and Robinho end "one of the most ne‐ farious chapters" in the country's sports history.
Rodrigues said in a statement that the executives at governing body CBF and its coaching staff feel sorry for "the victims of the brutal crimes committed by the former footballers."
Robinho was jailed Thursday after a high court authorized his nine‐year jail sentence from a trial in Italy to be served in Brazil. This week, Alves got the opportunity to leave prison on bail while await‐ ing the appeal of his conviction for rape.
"The yellow shirt that Brazilian athletes wear on the pitch is much more than a jersey. Just like soc‐ cer to Brazil is more than a sport. Those who wear it need to defend the feelings and values of a whole country they represent," Ro‐ drigues said. "It is embarrassing that an athlete feels comfortable to commit such perversity as if all he achieved through sport will stop him from being punished."
Hours earlier, Brazil's new coach Dorival Júnior said Robinho was "a fantastic person" in a press con‐ ference in London ahead of Satur‐ day's friendly between his team and England at Wembley Stadium. Players of the country's women's national team expressed their dis‐ gust with Júnior's comment on so‐ cial media throughout Friday.
Earlier this week, the head of Brazil's delegation in London, Palmeiras chairperson Leila
Pereira, said the silence of foot‐ ballers around the cases of Alves and Robinho was "a slap in the face of all women."
Rodrigues also said Brazil's bid to host the 2027 Women's World Cup "represents the biggest proj‐ ect of the current administration to promote the participation of women in soccer, fight sexism and develop the sport." The host coun‐ try for 2027 is expected to be named in May.
Alves remains jailed in the Bri‐ ans II prison 45 minutes from Barcelona where he was been for the past 14 months. He was found guilty of raping a woman in a nightclub in December 2022 and sentenced to four years, six months in prison. He denied wrongdoing during the three‐day trial in February.
Spain's state prosecutors' office in Barcelona asked a court on Fri‐ day to reconsider its decision to grant Brazilian star Alves the op‐ portunity to leave prison.
His requests to be released on bail before the trial were denied because the court deemed him a flight risk.
Since the early hours of Friday, Robinho is an inmate at Tremembe penitentiary in rural Sao Paulo state. He is expected to serve at least 40% of his nine‐year sentence for raping a woman in Italy. Brazil criminal law states suggests Robinho could get a more flexible jail regime for good behavior in prison. He will be eli‐ gible in 2027, when almost half of his sentence has been served. He continues to deny any wrongdo‐ ing.