Orthopride tore up its Santos FC sponsorship the day the club signed Robinho

In October 2020, Santos FC signed 36-year-old striker Robinho to a five-month contract. In November 2017, a court in Milan had convicted Robinho, in first instance, of gang-raping a woman with five other men; the ruling was under appeal and not yet final, so under Brazilian law he remained free to play.

Santos had not consulted its sponsors before announcing the signing. Every sponsor the club carried on its jersey said it had been caught by surprise. Orthopride, a chain of orthodontics franchises that had a shirt-sponsorship deal with Santos running until February 2021, acted first.

On October 14, 2020, Orthopride's director Richard Adam told reporters the company was cancelling its sponsorship: its customer base was mostly women, and in respect for them it could not keep its logo on a shirt worn by Robinho. He added the company had not been informed of the signing in advance.

Santos president Orlando Rollo dismissed the backlash as sour grapes from rival fans and noted Robinho had no final conviction. Two days later, on October 16, newly surfaced wiretap transcripts of Robinho discussing the incident pushed the rest of the roster's sponsors — Kicaldo, Tekbond, Philco, Foxlux and betting site Casa de Apostas — to tell Santos in writing that they would pull out too unless the club cut him. Santos and Robinho jointly announced the suspension of his contract that day. Robinho's lawyers maintained his innocence.