Former Real Madrid and Manchester City star Robinho has been sentenced to nine years in prison for rape.
The Court of Cassation in Rome rejected an appeal from the former Brazil international and Ricardo Falco – a friend of the former player – relating to the incident, which occurred in 2013.
Robinho was convicted of rape in 2017 with a nine-year jail sentence handed down by the courts but his appeal process with the Italian courts has been ongoing in the years since.
The former player continually rejected claims that he took part in a gang rape of a 22-year-old Albanian woman at the Sio Cafe nightclub in Milan in January 2013.
The latest decision from the court in Rome is a final sentence with no room for further appeals with the sentence to begin immediately.
With the conviction, the Italian justice system can request the extradition of both Robinho and Falco, although the Brazilian constitution vetoes the extradition of Brazilians.
Due to this situation, Italy will be able to request that both men serve their sentences in a Brazilian jail.
Italy must now request the transfer of execution of the sentence to the Brazilian justice system and wait for the Superior Court of Justice to ratify the sentence.