After a dubious silence following the sentences handed down in recent days (Robinho's sentence has been confirmed and will take effect in Brazil, while Alves' conviction has not yet been finalised), the Seleção have broken their silence on the rape cases involving two of its former players. 

Coach Dorival Junior and his new captain, Danilo, have spoken out for the first time about the cases of two of their former stars, Robinho and Dani Alves, who were found guilty of rape in 2013 and 2022 respectively. The statement from the Brazilian national team was a long-awaited demand from various quarters in Brazil, but the pressure mounted with the recent conviction of the full-back in Spain and the arrest of the former striker in Brazil on Friday. 

"As the coach of the national team, I have a duty to speak out," the 61-year-old told a press conference at Wembley Stadium on the eve of Friday's friendly against England.

"This is a difficult time for us. I am thinking first and foremost of the families of those involved and, above all, of the victims of these incidents that happen every day in our country and around the world and which are suddenly not dealt with, they are silenced because people have no voice," added the coach, who coached Robinho at Santos in Brazil. 

The former Real Madrid striker was arrested on Thursday in Brazil, where he is serving a nine-year prison sentence for the 2013 gang rape of a young Albanian woman while playing for AC Milan. The former Real Madrid 'Canarinha' striker scored 28 goals in 100 appearances, including at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, the 2005 and 2009 Confederations Cups and the 2007 Copa America. 

"If there really was a crime and it has been proven, then it must be punished. As much as it pains me to say this about a person with whom I have always had an extraordinary relationship," said the coach.

"I am sorry for what they will have to go through in their lives from now on. All I can do is help them with my prayers, nothing more," added Dorival Júnior. 

Echoing the coach's sentiments, the directors of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) and the Selecao's technical committee issued a press release expressing their "solidarity with the victims of the two brutal crimes committed by former players". 

The president of the CBF, Ednaldo Rodrigues, stated that "it is shameful that any athlete in a Brazilian jersey would feel comfortable committing such perversions" and that he wanted "what he has achieved through sport to protect him from any punishment". In an environment where "machismo prevails", men must "fight not only sexual violence, but all types of violence". 

A three-time World Cup participant (2010, 2014 and 2022) and winner of the Copa America in 2007 and 2019 and the Confederations Cup in 2009 and 2013, Alves was sentenced in February to four-and-a-half years in prison for the rape of a woman in a Barcelona nightclub in 2022, although he is now free on bail after serving 14 months in prison as the sentence is not yet final.

Danilo, the captain of the Brazilian national team, has called on the CBF to carry out awareness-raising activities in Brazilian football to promote "reflective thinking" among men. "Especially for young people, where we can promote this reflective thinking in a more genuine way, putting ourselves in women's shoes," the Juventus full-back said at another press conference in the English capital. 

However, he did not directly address the cases of Alves and Robinho. The Seleção's silence has been heavily criticised by women linked to the world of football, including Brazilian internationals Ary Borges and Kerolin, as well as Leila Pereira, the president of Palmeiras and the Brazil's delegate for the friendly matches against England and Spain (next Tuesday in Madrid).

"Nobody is saying anything, but as a woman here, at the head of the delegation, I have to speak out," she told UOL on Thursday. "This is a slap in the face for all of us, women," Pereira said.