Disgraced ex-Man City star Robinho gives interview from INSIDE JAIL in Brazil, where he’s serving nine years for nightclub rape

Manchester City and Real Madrid star Robinho has given his first prison video interview since being sentenced to nine years in prison for rape in Brazil.

The 41-year-old father of three, who has been behind bars in Dr Jose Augusto Cesar Salgado Prison in Sao Paulo state since March 21, 2024, said he was treated like other prisoners.

The fallen star looked relaxed and healthy in the footage, which featured images of the inside of the prison and was released by a non-profit organization that helps rehabilitate criminals.

He said: ‘My meals and sleeping hours are the same as other prisoners. I have never eaten different food or been treated differently. When it’s time to work, I do everything the other inmates can do here. When we want to play football, we are allowed to play on Sundays when there is no work.

‘I did not gain any benefit whatsoever. Visits are made on Saturday or Sunday. When my wife comes, she doesn’t come alone, she comes with my children. The oldest are playing, the two youngest may come. ‘The visits are the same, the treatment is the same for everyone.’

Robinho, whose prison is better known as P2 Tremembe and is referred to as the ‘Famous People Prison’ and has been branded as a ‘lie’, claims that he is a leader in prison or that he suffers from physiological problems.

41-year-old woman has been behind bars for more than a year and a half after being found guilty of rape

She insisted: ‘I’ve never experienced this, I’ve never had to take medication, thank God. Despite the difficulty of staying in prison, which is normal, thank God I am always in trouble and I do everything that any prisoner can do.

‘The aim here is to re-educate and re-socialize those who make mistakes. I have never held a leadership role here or anywhere else. Here, as I told you, the guards are on duty and we, the prisoners, just obey.

‘I am not different because I am a football player, quite the opposite.

‘I’ve been here for a year and a half and I’ve never had any arguments, even in football when we played matches here.’

Despite reports that he had requested an overnight prison transfer in Brazil, Robinho agreed to take part in the video interview – the first time he has been seen in prison since his imprisonment for rape, which took place while he was at AC Milan in Italy in January 2013.

Brazilian media said the request was rejected by a judge who instructed the former international player to refer the request to prison authorities.

A Brazilian media outlet said Robinho’s defense team had suggested three possible alternatives, all of which were prisons in the state of Sao Paulo.

The former footballer’s request is thought to be linked to the regional government’s decision to change the type of inmates admitted to the prison and move to a more open system where inmates can leave during the day and return only at night.

Robinho was imprisoned in Brazil after a court in his hometown ruled that he must serve the prison sentence imposed on him by the Italian court.

Robinho is believed to be agitating to leave prison in Tremembe, Sao Paulo

According to media outlets, his request was rejected and he was asked to forward the request to prison authorities.

His friend Ricardo Falco was imprisoned for the same crime, three months after him, in June 2024.

Both men were convicted of sexually assaulting an Albanian woman at a club in Milan in January 2013, while they were with AC Milan.

Their unsuccessful appeals in Italian courts dragged on for years, and after being released on bail they returned to Brazil while awaiting the final decision.

Following his transfer to prison, Robinho swapped a luxury beach house in Santos for 10 days of total isolation, before being moved into a small eight-square-meter cell with another prisoner.

Reports in October last year, when Robinho was behind bars for seven months, said his prison routine consisted of playing football matches with other inmates once or twice a week, group reading and giving lessons on basic electronics, which would help him reduce the time he had to spend in prison.

A friend of the martyred football star involved in the rape case was found dead in Brazil in March.

Rudney Gomes’ body was found in Sao Paulo state’s port city of Santos, and police said they ruled his death a suicide after he reportedly jumped from the 11th floor of an apartment block.

Former Santos player is serving the sentence imposed by the Italian court for the crime he committed

His eldest son, Robinho Jnr, currently plays for his former team alongside Brazilian superstar Neymar.

Robinho, who named former bodyguard Gomes, 46, as one of the men who had sex with the woman he and Falco were convicted of sexual assault, continues to protest his innocence and claims the rape victim had a consensual orgy after drinking vodka and getting drunk.

Gomes, who was charged but never tried for his alleged involvement, like three other men named by Robinho, left Italy without being summoned to court.

The crime for which Robinho was convicted occurred after the footballer met his friends at Sio Cafe, where the rape took place, to celebrate Gomes’ 34th birthday.

Gomes had largely remained out of the public eye since the conclusion of the trial.