Brazil football coach Dorival Junior said the national team and players were going through a “difficult time” grappling with the rape convictions of former internationals Robinho and Dani Alves.
The Brazilian team and national federation have received criticism for their silence over the cases of striker Robinho and full-back Alves.
Robinho was sentenced to nine years in prison in Brazil for his part in a gang rape in Italy in 2013, while Alves was given a four-and-a-half-year conviction for raping a woman at a nightclub in Barcelona in 2022.
Dorival said he had “an obligation to speak out.”
“First, I think it’s a very delicate situation,” he stated. “I think of the families and especially the victims affected by these cases which occur every day in our country and around the world.”
Dorival, who began managing the five-time world champions in January, said Robinho’s situation was especially painful for him. He coached Robinho at the Brazilian club Santos.
The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) said in a statement on Friday that the cases were “shameful” and expressed its support for “the victims of the two brutal crimes committed by former players.”
CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues said men must “fight not only sexual violence, but all kinds of violence.”
