Disgraced former footballer, Robinho spends Christmas in jail after bid for festive release from his nine-year r@pe sentence fails

Former Manchester City and Real Madrid footballer, Robinho is spending his first Christmas behind bars after he was told he doesn’t qualify for the temporary festive release thousands of prisoners at his lock-up will enjoy.

Prison chiefs have confirmed Robinho is not eligible for the prison perk and will not get to spend family time with his wife Vivian and their three children at their home in Santos after he was made to start his nine-year jail sentence for r@pe in March.

They have also confirmed no special events have been programmed for New Year’s Eve at Penitentiary II Dr Jose Augusto Salgado in Tremembe, better known as P2 Tremembe and dubbed the ‘Prison for Famous People’ in Brazil because it offers inmates better conditions than at other lock-ups in the state of Sao Paulo.

Brazil’s Prison Service confirmed in a statement, referring to 40-year-old Robinho by his real name of Robson de Souza: ‘Inmate Robson de Souza is serving a sentence under a closed regime and is not entitled to temporary release, a benefit granted by the Judiciary only to semi-open regime inmates. 

‘Tremembe Penitentiary II, which holds Robson, will not be holding any special programmes for the end-of-year celebrations.’

Robinho has been behind bars since March 21. His friend Ricardo Falco entered prison in June after a Brazilian court decided he should also serve the jail sentence handed down to them by an Italian court.

Both men were convicted of s3xually assaulting an Albanian woman in a club in Milan in January 2013 while he was at AC Milan.