Court bars Robinho from leaving Brazil
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Former soccer star Robinho has been ordered to hand over his passport while Brazilian judicial authorities determine if he should serve his nine-year sentence for rape in Brazil. He was convicted in Italy in 2017 for his part in the group sexual assault in Milan that took place four years previously when the Brazilian was playing for Serie A team AC Milan. Italy’s top court upheld the sentence in 2022 after which Italian prosecutors issued an international arrest warrant. Brazil does not extradite its own citizens when they are sentenced in other countries and Italy has asked that the 39-year-old Robinho serve his sentence in his home country. Robinho lives in Santos, outside Sao Paulo.