Palmeiras president Leila Pereira, the first woman at the head of the Brazilian club, lashed out at the football world Thursday for its silence on the rape convictions of stars Robinho and Dani Alves.
"Nobody says anything, but I, as a woman here at the head of the delegation, have to take a stand on the cases of Robinho and Daniel Alves," she told Brazil's UOL news site.
"It's a slap in the face for all of us women, especially the case of Daniel Alves, who paid for (his) freedom. It is important for me to position myself. Each case of impunity is the seed of the next crime," Pereira said.
Pereira is in London as head of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) delegation for a Brazil international friendly to be played against England on Saturday and another against Spain on Tuesday.
The CBF has not commented on the rape convictions handed down against Robinho and Alves, who have both represented Brazil multiple times.
Former teammates and clubs have also remained silent.
On Wednesday, a court in Brasilia ruled that former Manchester City and Real Madrid forward Robinho must serve a nine-year rape sentence -- imposed on him by an Italian court -- in his home country.
He was convicted in 2017 for taking part in the gang rape of an Albanian woman celebrating her 23rd birthday at a Milan nightclub four years earlier.
Italy had issued an international arrest warrant for Robinho, but as Brazil does not extradite its nationals, asked that Robinho be made to serve his sentence in his home country instead.
On Thursday, Robinho asked a court to postpone the start of his sentence while he seeks to challenge the decision.
Also this week, a court in Spain ruled Alves would be released from jail pending an appeal in a one-million-euro bail agreement denounced by his victim's lawyer as "justice for the rich".
He had been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison for raping a woman in a nightclub in Barcelona in 2022.
