Criticized for its silence after the rape convictions of former internationals Dani Alves and Robinho, the Brazilian national football team came out of its reserve to express its solidarity with the victims.
“It’s a difficult time for us. First of all, I think of the families and especially the victims affected by these cases which occur every day in our country and throughout the world
,” reacted the new coach of the
“
Seleçao
”
, Dorival Junior, Friday at the stadium from Wembley to London, where Brazil is due to play England on Saturday.
Former striker Robinho has just spent his first night in detention in Brazil after his sentence to nine years in prison for a gang rape in Italy in 2017. Former full-back Dani Alves is imprisoned in Spain after his conviction on last month, which he appealed, to four and a half years in prison for the rape of a young woman in December 2022 in a nightclub in Barcelona.
“If it has been proven that there was any crime, it must be punished. Even if it hurts me to say that about a person with whom I have always had an exceptional relationship
,” added the 61-year-old coach about Robinho, whom he worked with at the Santos club. 2010 to 2015.
Captain against the English, in the absence of Casemiro and Marquinhos, the full-back Danilo did not comment directly on the Alves and Robinho affairs but called on the football authorities to raise awareness among young footballers
“by putting us at the position of women in an empathetic manner
.
In a press release, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) and the technical committee of the
“Seleçao”
expressed their solidarity
“with the victims of the two brutal crimes committed by the former players”
.
In an environment where
“machismo reigns”
, men must
“fight not only sexual violence, but all kinds of violence”
, insisted the president of the CBF, Ednaldo Rodrigues.
The silence of the Seleçao had been strongly criticized, in particular by Brazilian internationals Ary Borges and Kerolin.
A Barcelona court on Wednesday gave the green light to the release of Dani Alves pending his appeal judgment, upon payment of a deposit of one million euros, a decision denounced by the lawyer of the plaintiff but also by Brazilian President Lula.
The Brazilian team, five-time world champion, decimated by withdrawals and in full doubt after a series of poor results, must play two gala friendly matches against England, Saturday at Wembley, and Spain, Tuesday in Madrid .