Italy has requested that former Brazil and AC Milan striker Robinho serves a 9-year prison sentence for rape in his home country, according to the local media, citing the Foreign Relations Ministry of Brazil.

The Brazilian ministry in a statement commented that it has received such a request without mentioning the name of the player. The defense lawyer of Robinho couldn’t be reached for comment.

As per the ministry, the request is going to be analyzed by the Department of Asset Repatriation and the International Legal Cooperation of the Justice Ministry.

Robon de Souza, also known as Robinho, is from Brazil and has been denied charges every time.

But earlier this week, the Justice Ministry of Italy issued an international arrest warrant for Robinho, after the top court of the country confirmed his rape conviction in January.

However, Brazil doesn’t extradite nationals and it would mean Robinho is going to face arrest in the case be travels abroad.

In 2017, a Milan court found Robinho and 5 other Brazilians guilty of raping a woman after they made her drink alcohol in a discotheque. The conviction had been confirmed by an appeals court in 2020 and this had been validated by the Supreme Court of Italy last month.

The Brazilian has received a long sentence after a horrific sex crime. But Robinho keeps rejecting the accusations. After he lost his final appeal in 2022 January, he went to Brazil to seek to refuse and Brazil refused to comply with the request of Italy to extradite him to Europe for serving his sentence.

Robinho has been a part of some of the biggest stages across the world during Manchester City, Milan, and Real Madrid spells. And reports claim that Brasiliense and Portuguesa Santista are two teams that look forward to resurrecting the career of Robinho.