Sports
Rape: Finally, Police Nab Robinho In Brazil

Former Manchester City and Real Madrid footballer Robinho was arrested Thursday in Brazil, after losing a last-minute court bid to delay serving his nine-year sentence for raping a woman a decade ago.
Supreme Court Judge Luiz Fux rejected Robinho’s request for a stay and ruled “the detention order is maintained… so that he can begin serving his sentence.”
Federal Police in the southeastern city of Santos said in a statement to AFP on Thursday night that their forces “carried out an arrest warrant… against Robson de Souza.”
“The prisoner will undergo an examination at the (Medical Legal Institute), a custody hearing and will be sent to the penitentiary system.”
Popularly known as “Robinho,” the footballer was found guilty by an Italian court in 2017 of taking part in the gang rape of an Albanian woman celebrating her 23rd birthday at a Milan nightclub four years earlier.
The former Brazil international, now 40, lost an appeal in 2020 and had his sentence upheld by Italy’s highest court in 2022, after which Italian prosecutors issued an international arrest warrant for him.
Brazil does not extradite its nationals, however, and Italy asked that Robinho be made to serve his sentence in his home country instead.
A court in Brasilia agreed Wednesday, by nine votes to two, and on Thursday court president Maria Thereza de Assis Moura signed a document paving the way for a warrant to be issued for Robinho’s incarceration.
Journalists flocked to his luxury condominium in Guaruja, near Santos, but his arrest wasn’t caught on camera. The Globo network later aired a short video showing him inside a police precinct.
Robinho will be taken to a prison in Tremembe, about 150 kilometers (95 miles) southeast of Sao Paulo, the nation’s most populous city, a Federal Police officer told journalists.
His lawyers had filed a request to the Supreme Court to allow him to remain free while challenging the latest court decision.
That was rejected.
‘Brutally humiliated’
The footballer, who protests his innocence, told Brazilian network TV Record in an interview broadcast on Sunday that the sex had been consensual and accused the Italian justice system of racism.
According to the complaint, Robinho and his co-accused had made the young woman drink “to the point of rendering her unconscious and unable to resist,” and then had “sexual relations several times in a row” with her.
In March 2021, a Milan appeals court found Robinho had acted with “special contempt for the victim, who was brutally humiliated.”
Robinho’s case and that of former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain defender Dani Alves have sparked criticism over the failure of football authorities in Brazil to condemn violence against women.
In February, former Brazil international fullback Alves, 40, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison for raping a woman in a nightclub in Barcelona.
On Thursday, Palmeiras president Leila Pereira, the first woman at the head of the Brazilian club, lashed out at the football world for its silence on the twin rape convictions of Robinho and Alves.
“Nobody says anything,” she told Brazil’s UOL news site.
“It’s a slap in the face for all of us women, especially the case of Daniel Alves, who paid for (his) freedom,” Pereira said, referring to a Spanish court decision Wednesday to grant Alves bail of a million euros.
“Each case of impunity is the seed of the next crime,” she added.
Robinho, for his part, will not gain his freedom quickly because Brazil “does not allow bail” for the crime he is accused of, criminal lawyer Leonardo Pantaleao told AFP.
Fall from grace
For Robinho, it has been a dramatic fall from grace.
Having begun his career in 2002 at Santos, a team made famous by Brazil great Pele, he was touted as the successor to the golden generation of Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho.
In 2005, he joined Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham at Real Madrid.
He went on to play for Manchester City from 2008 to 2010, and for Milan for four years until 2014.
In 2009, he was briefly detained in England for an alleged sexual assault of a young woman, but the charges were dropped after an investigation.
He sought to return to Santos in 2020 but the club suspended the deal after pressure from fans and sponsors, leading to the abrupt end of his career.
At about the same time, TV channel Globo Sports had released excerpts of a recording Italian prosecutors used to secure their conviction, in which Robinho purportedly said: “I’m laughing because I don’t care. The woman was completely drunk. She doesn’t even know what happened.”
Robinho has 100 Brazil caps and 28 goals for his country.T
Sports
Watch highlights of Manchester United’s 5-4 ‘comeback’ win over Lyon in Europa League

Manchester United staged a remarkable comeback against French side Lyon, securing a thrilling 5-4 victory in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, April 17, 2025.
Midfielder Manuel Ugarte opened the scoring for United in the 10th minute, calmly slotting home a pull-back from a teammate. Before the end of the first half, defender Diogo Dalot netted a second goal to extend their lead.
However, Lyon mounted a strong second-half response. Corentin Tolisso capitalised on a spilled save from Andre Onana to pull one back, and Nicolás Tagliafico leveled the score with a composed finish past the goalkeeper.
In extra time, Ryan Cherki scored in the 104th minute to give Lyon the lead, followed by Alexandre Lacazette, who made it 4-2 with a well-placed effort.
United responded with renewed intensity. Bruno Fernandes converted a penalty to narrow the gap, Kobbie Mainoo equalized in the 120th minute, and a dramatic header from Harry Maguire sealed a stunning 5-4 victory at Old Trafford.
The Premier League side advanced to the semi-finals of the Europa League with a 7-6 aggregate scoreline.
Manchester United will face Athletic Bilbao in the semi-finals, scheduled for May 1 and May 8, 2025.
The other semi-final tie will feature Bodo/Glimt against Tottenham Hotspur.
Watch highlights of the match below:
Sports
Champions League: Arsenal cut Real Madrid to size with 5-1 aggregate win

Arsenal staved off Champions League holders Real Madrid’s superstars and rich history of unlikely comebacks to snatch a 2-1 victory on Wednesday and reach the semi-finals with a superb 5-1 aggregate triumph.
The Gunners’ 3-0 quarter-final first leg triumph last week gave them a vital cushion in the Spanish capital as they made the final four for the first time since 2009, where they will face Paris Saint-Germain.
Bukayo Saka, who missed a first-half penalty, sent Arsenal ahead and although Vinicius Junior levelled the 15-time winners were never close to making up the deficit.
Gabriel Martinelli rubbed salt in their wounds with a stoppage-time winner for Arsenal, who have never lifted the Champions League trophy.
“We knew we were going to suffer but we knew we were going to win,” Declan Rice, who netted two stunning free-kicks in the first leg, told TNT Sports.
“It’s such a special night for this club, it’s a historic night for this club… we want to win this competition.”
Los Blancos, far more brittle than when they won a Champions League and La Liga double last season, were convinced they could turn the game around but created too little against Arsenal’s tight defence.
The Premier League side held their nerve to reach the semi-finals for only the third time in their history.
“It’s a difficult moment… it was a difficult game, we didn’t have all the chances we would have liked,” Madrid’s Lucas Vazquez told Movistar.
“We needed a bit more with the ball, maybe a bit more patience to be able to break through a very well organised defence — they did their job.”
Kylian Mbappe chested home in the opening stages but was clearly offside, with the forward gesturing to the crowd to turn up the volume to create the fabled aura which helps Madrid pull off near-impossible feats at the Santiago Bernabeu.
David Alaba was booked for hacking down Saka as Madrid tried to add the grit they badly lacked in their first leg demolition in London, and the Arsenal winger also had a drive fielded well by Thibaut Courtois.
Arsenal were awarded a penalty seemingly out of the blue when the VAR booth instructed French referee Francois Letexier to review an incident from an earlier corner.
Raul Asencio pulled back Arsenal forward Mikel Merino in the area and Letexier pointed to the spot, to the bemusement of the home crowd.
– Saka penalty saved –
Saka stepped up to take it but his poorly-executed Panenka, skewing off to the left, was saved by Courtois.
It spurred Real Madrid on and soon they had a penalty of their own, when Mbappe hit the turf after Rice tussled with him.
However after a lengthy VAR review Letexier was called to take a second look and he then decided Arsenal’s two-goal first leg hero Rice had not fouled the French superstar.
The breaks in play, along with Arsenal’s dallying at every opportunity, disrupted Madrid’s momentum and they struggled to threaten Gunners stopper David Raya.
For all of Madrid’s bluster the goalkeeper did not need to make a save in the first half.
Martin Odegaard, facing his former employers whom he joined as a ‘wonderkid’ a decade ago, helped forge Arsenal’s opening goal after 65 minutes.
The Norwegian linked with Merino, who slipped Saka in behind and the Englishman made amends for his penalty blunder with an ice-cool dinked finish.
Four goals ahead in the tie Arsenal thought their work was done, with defender William Saliba not concentrating on the edge of his box in possession.
Vinicius stole the ball away from him and beat the out-of-position Raya to level, two minutes after Saka’s opener.
Madrid’s increasingly slim hopes were dashed when Mbappe limped off with an ankle problem with 15 minutes remaining, and Martinelli made sure with a cool finish after Merino set him up.
Sports
Inter edge past Bayern to set up Champions League semi against Barcelona

Inter Milan reached the semi-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday after drawing 2-2 with Bayern Munich to win a pulsating last-eight tie 4-3 on aggregate.
Italian champions Inter will face Barcelona in the semis after goals in the space of three minutes from captain Lautaro Martinez and Benjamin Pavard cancelled out a Harry Kane strike for Bayern which levelled the tie in the 52nd minute.
Eric Dier’s looping header in the 75th minute earned Bayern a draw on the night in soaking and blustery Milan but that wasn’t enough for Vincent Kompany’s side to continue their bid to be crowned Kings of Europe for a seventh time.
Simone Inzaghi’s side came through in awful conditions at the San Siro where a combination of heavy rain and driving winds affected both teams’ ability to play their best football, but added uncertainty and tension to an already highly-charged occasion.
Inter are still on for a repeat of the Serie A, Champions League and Italian Cup treble won under Jose Mourinho in 2010, as they are also three points ahead of Napoli in Italy’s top flight and face AC Milan in the semi-finals of the domestic cup.
And Wednesday’s win showed that Inter are more than capable or reaching the final of Europe’s elite club competition, as they did two years ago when they were narrowly beaten by Manchester City.
Bayern had won all three of their previous Champions League away matches at Inter, but after Pavard crashed home his first goal for the club in the 61st minute there was no way back for the injury-hit Bundesliga leaders.
Inter will also benefit from playing the second leg of their showdown with Barca, who they beat in the semi-finals on their way to victory in Madrid 15 years ago, at the San Siro.
– Treble dream –
The hosts didn’t come alive until their fans, who had been sat and stood in silence for the first 20 minutes in protest at ticket prices, burst loudly in song.
By that time the wind had picked up so much that one Inter cross almost swung back out of the penalty box, but even with the wind in their faces the hosts were on the up.
Thuram just failed to get a touch on Francesco Acerbi’s scuffed finish in the 29th minute, and moments later Hakan Calhanoglu crashed powerful shot just wide of the upright.
Bayern reacted and pushed Inter back into their own area for the final minutes of the opening half, but a combination of the conditions, desperate defending and poor finishing kept the match scoreless at the break.
Inter started the second half the stronger but Kane levelled the tie with a brilliantly taken goal, shifting onto his right and drilling a low shot through Federico Dimarco’s leg’s and past Yann Sommer.
Just moments before Kane had rookie Bayern goalkeeper to thank for stopping him scoring an own goal, but not long afterwards Martinez re-established Inter’s advantage when he controlled Dimarco’s corner and lashed home.
And Pavard decided the tie three minutes later with a bullet header against his former club from another corner, sending the San Siro wild with delight.
That wasn’t it though as Dier moved Bayern back to within a goal of extra-time, but when Sommer smothered Kane’s header in stoppage time Inter’s treble dream was kept alive.
-
News23 hours ago
Abuja raid attack: Three NDLEA officers sustain gunshot injuries, hospitalized
-
News10 hours ago
N300m gift: NBA under heavy hammer as FCT minister, Wike alleges body is compromised
-
News10 hours ago
Stop hunting in southern states, lawmaker begs Northerners
-
News24 hours ago
Easter: HoR Minority Caucus celebrates with Christians, urges love, peace, national cohesion, calls for end to killings nationwide
-
News7 hours ago
Criminals in military uniform kill 12 at cockfight
-
News10 hours ago
UK launches updated English tests for visa, citizenship applicants
-
News6 hours ago
INSECURITY: Armed herders attack reportedy leaves family of eight dead, nine others
-
News23 hours ago
Tinubu preaches hope at Easter gives directive to military to end insecurity