Former Manchester City player, Robinho, has been sentenced to nine years in prison after being found guilty of taking part in a gang rape.
The footballer is one of a group of five convicted of assaulting an Albanian girl in a Milan nightclub on January 22, 2013.
Robinho was playing for AC Milan at the time.
The Brazilian, 33, who is currently playing in his homeland with Atletico Mineiro, has vowed to challenge the ruling.
Under Italian law, he won’t be sentenced until the appeals process has been finalised – which could take years.
A statement posted on his Instagram from his legal team said:
“Regarding the news involving the striker Robinho, in an incident that occurred several years ago, we wish to clarify that he already declared his innocence and maintained he had no involvement whatsoever.”
It added: “All legal steps are now being taken with regards to this decision by a court of first instance.”
If he loses the appeal he could be extradited to serve prison time in Italy.
Robinho moved to Europe amid much hype in 2005 when he joined Real Madrid from Santos.
He broke the British transfer record in 2008 when Man City lured him from Real Madrid for £32million.
After a bright start to life in England, he soon started to struggle and was eventually sent out on loan to former club Santos after just 16 months.
At the end of the season, he moved to AC Milan where he was joined by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and later Antonio Cassano en route to winning the Serie A.
He would spend five years in Italy before moving to China with Guangzhou Evergande and then onto Atletico Mineiro in 2016.
Robinho had previously been accused of sexual assault while at City in 2009 but was later cleared.
