Robinho, a Real Madrid footballer from 2005 to 2008, is serving a nine-year prison sentence in Tremembe prison after being convicted in Italy in 2022 of gang rape committed in the transalpine country in 2013.

Recently, the Brazilian courts rejected a new appeal by Robinho and kept him in prison in Sao Paulo serving his sentence for rape.

They have been telling lies that I am a prison leader or that I have psychological problems

Robinho

Robinho claimed in 2024, in an interview with 'TV Record', that he has enough evidence to prove his innocence that was ignored, even after the trial, by the Italian justice system.

Here the guards are the ones in charge and we, the inmates, just obey

Robinho

"We had a superficial and quick relationship. We exchanged kisses, after that I went home. There were other people in the place. When I saw that she wanted to continue with other guys, I went home.... I never denied it. It was consensual. I never denied it. I could have denied it, because my DNA is not there. But I'm not a liar," explained the former Santos player.

Robinho, his story as a common prisoner: "I have never received different treatment"

The Taubate Community Council, a non-profit organisation set up by Judge Sueli Zeraik to support the judiciary, published a video in which Robinho denied having privileges or being treated differently from other inmates.

I have never had any kind of benefit. Visits are on Saturdays or Sundays. When my wife does not come alone, she comes with my children. The visits are the same and the treatment is the same for everyone

Robinho

"My diet, my sleep schedule, everything is the same as the other inmates. I have never eaten anything different, I have never been treated differently. When it's time to work, I do everything the other inmates do. If we want to play football, it's allowed on Sundays, when there's no work," explained the 41-year-old former Santos, Real Madrid, AC Milan and Manchester City footballer.

Robinho stressed that "I have never had any kind of benefit. Visits are on Saturdays or Sundays. When my wife does not come alone, she comes with my children. The eldest plays and the two younger ones can come. The visits are the same and the treatment is the same for everyone."

"They have been telling lies that I am a prison leader or that I have psychological problems. I have never had that, I have never had to take medication, thank God. Despite how difficult it is to be in a penitentiary, it is normal, but thank God I have always kept a cool head and I am doing everything that any inmate can do," he said.

The former Real Madrid footballer explained that "here in Tremembe prison the objective is to re-educate, re-socialise those who have made mistakes. I never had any kind of leadership here, nor anywhere else. Here, the guards are the ones who are in charge, as I have already told you, and we, the inmates, only obey."

Robinho is in Penitenciaria II de Tremembe, Brazil's celebrity prison

The 40-year-old former soccer player is being held in the Dr. Jose Augusto Cesar Salgado P2 prison (Penitentiary II of Tremembe) in Sao Paulo, the so-called "prison of the famous" in Brazil, with 430 inmates in cells ranging in size from 9 to 15 square meters and accommodating up to six people.

Famous murderers with whom Robinho lives in Penitentiary II of Tremembe

In Penitentiary II of Tremembe, there are politicians (Luiz Estevao), celebrities (Antonio Marcos Pimenta das Neves) and famous murderers such as Alexandre Nardoni, Cristian Cravinhos (the murderer of the Von Richthofen), Roger Abdelmassih (a doctor who abused 39 sedated patients) or Lindemberg Alves, who were convicted of crimes such as rape, kidnapping or murder.

This is how the Tinder of the "prison of the famous" in Brazil works, where Robinho is imprisoned

Journalist Ullisses Campbell revealed in a book about the Von Richthofen murders that inmates at Robinho's prison designed a kind of Tinder with inmates from another module located three miles away.

The system consists of the prisoners sending full-body photographs to the prisoners thanks to visits and personal letters that were read aloud by the security staff.

That prison 'Tinder' forged the romantic relationship between two famous murderers. Vinicius Nunes (who killed his own brother) and Jaqueline Moraes (who killed her husband by stabbing him 56 times) began a relationship, which broke up after the prisoner broke up with his beloved... when he discovered that she was "fatter and more wrinkled" than in the photos they shared. Shortly afterwards he became engaged to another inmate.