Brazilian footballer Robinho has lost his final appeal against a conviction for taking part in the gang rape of a woman in Milan in 2013.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court in Rome upheld a previous ruling sentencing the 37-year-old to nine years in jail.
In 2017, Robinho and five other Brazilians were found guilty of assaulting a 22-year-old Albanian woman in a nightclub.
The sentence was previously upheld in December 2020 following an appeal.
Robinho is unlikely to serve his sentence as he is in Brazil and the Brazilian constitution bans the extradition of its citizens, although Italy can request that he serves his sentence in the South American country.
Robinho, capped 100 times by Brazil, started his career at Santos before moving to Real Madrid in 2005, where he won two La Liga titles in four seasons.
In 2008, he joined Manchester City for £32.5m, then a British record fee, but he was loaned back to Santos in January 2010 after struggling to make an impact in England.
He won Serie A during his subsequent spell at AC Milan, but returned to Santos for another loan spell in August 2014 before joining Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande in July 2015.
When his sixth-month deal expired, he moved back to Brazil, joining Atletico Mineiro on a two-year deal and had spells at two Turkish clubs before returning to Santos in October 2020 on a five-month contract.
However, after his signing was met with criticism, the Brazilian club suspended his contract “in order for the player to concentrate exclusively on his defence in the ongoing case in Italy”.
