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Robinho (archive)
Photo: Marcelo Sayao / dpa
Under pressure from sponsors and fans, the contract between FC Santos and the Brazilian soccer player Robinho, who was convicted in the first instance on charges of group rape, was suspended after only about a week.
The player should be able to concentrate fully on his defense in the process that is running in Italy, it said in a message on the club's website on Friday evening (local time).
A possible extradition to Italy will theoretically only threaten Robinho if the judgment is final in all instances.
Zé Roberto "shocked"
The Brazilian sports portal "Globoesporte" published on Friday the content of audio files with further details and explicit statements that the Italian judiciary is said to have used for the verdict against Robinho.
Former Bundesliga professional Zé Roberto was "shocked" on Brazilian sports television by the statements attributed to his former national team colleague.
Robinho was sentenced to nine years in prison in Italy in November 2017.
The former AC Milan player and five others raped a woman in a disco in the northern Italian metropolis in 2013, a court in Milan ruled.
During the rape, they are said to have made the woman drunk and defenseless.
The player's defender announced at the time that he would be challenging the conviction.
Several sponsors put pressure on
In a letter from the lawyers, from which "Globoesporte" quoted on Friday, Robinho again denied the allegations.
He had always entered into sexual relationships amicably.
After the contract was signed with him last Saturday, according to the newspaper "Folha de S. Paulo", a sponsor had already ended his engagement with Santos;
at least four sponsors asked the traditional club to withdraw from the contract.
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