Brazilian striker Robinho heads to Turkey’s Sivasspor
ISTANBUL – Agence France-Presse
Brazil forward Robinho is set to join Turkish Super League side Sivasspor, the club said on Jan. 22, despite his sentencing in absentia to nine years in prison in Italy for gang rape.
Sivasspor, based in the Central Anatolian province of Sivas, said that an agreement with the former AC Milan, Real Madrid and Manchester City player had been reached “in principle” and the signing would take place after final discussions.
The Fanatik sports daily quoted club coach Samet Aybaba as saying that a one-and-a-half-year deal had been agreed and the final details were being thrashed out.
Robinho, 33, has won 100 caps for Brazil and played in the 2006 and 2010 World Cups.
He had spent the last two seasons at Brazilian club Atletico Mineiro.
But he was found guilty in absentia by an Italian court in November of raping a 22-year-old Albanian woman in January 2013, when the Brazilian was playing for Milan in Serie A.
Robinho has insisted he is innocent. The sentence is suspended while appeals take place.
He was one of the first big-money signings at Manchester City, joining for 32.5 million punds (40 million euros at the rates of the time) on the day the Premier League club was taken over by the Abu Dhabi United Group. But his two seasons at the club were a disappointment.
Sivasspor is currently eighth in the Spor Toto Super League after a strong first half of the season.
