On October 17, 2020, when he saw the news that Santos had terminated his contract with himself, the then 36-year-old Robinho knew that he had completely lost his career football. Although he did not want to admit that all that awaited him was the announcement of his retirement, in those hot and unbearable nights in Brazil, the impulsive night of 2013 had become an indelible sore spot in his heart.
Recently, according to brazilian media UOL, the 38-year-old Brazilian legendary striker Robinho revealed that he has confirmed his retirement. In fact, however, Robinho was more like being forced to retire, and no team has been willing to sign him since the termination of his contract with Santos in October 2020. Robinho was sentenced to nine years in prison by an Italian court earlier this year for committing rape in Italy in 2013, and the former "cycling teenager" had no choice but to bid farewell to the green field.
According to a screenshot of the chat released by UOL, Robinho was very impatient in responding to a reporter's interview request: "I don't want to be interviewed, if you can stop bothering me and my family, then I will thank you very much." 」 You asked me where Santos was in my heart, and that would always be my home. Don't you have more important people to interview? I'm not going to keep playing, there are a lot of guys who want to be interviewed and I just want you to stay away from me. ”
In October 2020, Robinho returned to his famous home team, Santos, and in order to be able to return to the green field, he even accepted a salary of BRL 1500 (about 207 pounds) per month. However, a week after signing with the team, under pressure from the outside world, Santos announced that he would terminate his contract. The reason was a rape case in Italy in 2013 when Robinho, along with his friend Ricardo Falco and four other men, were suspected of gang-raping a 22-year-old Albanian woman in a nightclub in the city of Milan. At the end of 2017, Robinho was sentenced to nine years in prison in first instance by an Italian court for rape. Subsequently, Robinho appealed, and at the end of 2020, an Italian court announced that it had dismissed Robinho's appeal and upheld the 9-year prison sentence.
After the failed appeal at first instance, Robinho continued to choose to appeal. On January 19 of this year, a Court of Rome finally sentenced Robinho to nine years in prison, plus 60,000 euros in damages. With no extradition treaty between Brazil and Italy, Robinho can still live in Brazil for now, but will face jail time as soon as he sets foot on the continent again.
Earlier, a report in Global Sports published information he exchanged with friends after the crime, shocking the country, mainly because of the tone of Robinho's talk about his wife, with deep contempt and arrogance. In a 2020 interview with UOL, instead of apologizing to the victim or his fans, he said his only regret was betraying his wife: "I regret betraying my wife, that's my regret." The question is, what mistake did I make? What crime have I committed? My only mistake was to be unfaithful to my wife, I didn't make the mistake of raping someone, abusing a girl or going out with her without the consent of the person concerned". However, such a claim was not recognized by the Italian judicial system, and after extensive investigations and trials, Robinho was convicted.
Robinho with his wife
Looking back, Robinho has become the protagonist of the story of the typical Brazilian football genius who became famous at a young age but quickly fell. Robinho, who grew up in the slums, once regarded football as the only spiritual sustenance. In 1997, Robinho left his hometown for Santos, 8 kilometers away, to join The Santos Youth Camp, Brazil's famous "star incubation camp". In 2002, at the age of 18, Robinho was promoted to the Santos first team, and Robinho's signature cycling move made him famous at a young age.
In August 2005, La Liga giants Real Madrid bought a 60% ownership of Robinho for €24 million. In his three seasons with Real Madrid, Robinho made 137 appearances, contributing 34 goals and 27 assists. In the summer of 2008, Robinho moved to Manchester City, and his £32.5 million transfer fee broke the Premier League transfer fee record at the time, shocking the world football. He scored 14 goals in 2008–09, but played only 10 games the following season before being loaned back to Santos after a feud with manager Mancini, and in 2010 he signed for AC Milan to return to European football. In the summer of 2015, Robinho joined Guangzhou Evergrande on a free fly, and the two sides signed a six-month contract, but he only played 10 games in the Chinese Super League, scoring 3 goals, and his performance was unsatisfactory. Since 2016, Robinho has played at Atlético Dei Nordo, Turkish Super League Sivas Sports and Istanbul, gradually fading from everyone's vision.
In fact, while playing for Manchester City in 2009, Robinho was accused of raping an 18-year-old female university student. In January 2009, Robinho and friends packed a VIP room at an upscale nightclub in Leeds, and after the party ended, an 18-year-old female university student reported to the police that she had been raped by Robinho. Afterwards, Yorkshire Police immediately launched an investigation and immediately arrested the Brazilian star in accordance with the procedure. Although eventually found innocent, it cast a huge shadow over his Premier League career. After coming to AC Milan, the "nightclub trio" composed of Robinho and Xiao Luo and Pato was even more famous, and eventually caused a catastrophe.
Now, thanks to the mistakes he made in 2013, Robinho has had to end his football career and can no longer be the top star everyone expects. Although he has lived a carefree and slightly boring life in Brazil, playing the role of a perfect husband and a good father on personal social media, I wonder if he will regret his indisciplined life when he recalls those days about football.