Robinho beats fear, signs for a European Club despite rape conviction

Brazil forward Robinho signed on Tuesday with Turkish Super Lig side Sivasspor, the club said, even though he has been sentenced in absentia to nine years in prison in Italy for rape.

Sivasspor, based in the city of Sivas in central Anatolia, said the former AC Milan, Real Madrid and Manchester City player signed the one-and-a-half year deal in a ceremony at its stadium after passing a medical.

Robinho was found guilty by an Italian court in November of taking part in the gang rape of a 22-year-old Albanian woman in January 2013, when the Brazilian was playing for Milan in Serie A.

Robinho insists he is innocent. The sentence is suspended while appeals take place. Sivasspor made no mention of the controversy in its statement.