Robinho, 40, was found guilty by a court in Italy in 2017 of taking part in the gang rape of a 22-year-old Albanian woman. The offence took place in 2013.
The player has been living in Brazil which does not extradite its nationals.
However, judges in Brasilia in a ruling on Wednesday ruled he should serve his sentence in his home country.
He will remain free as he considers an appeal against the ruling.
The former Brazil international was playing for AC Milan at the time of the crime.
He was found found guilty and then lost an appeal in 2020 before Italy's highest court upheld his sentence in 2022.
Italian prosecutors issued an international arrest warrant for him.
The footballer, who spent two years with Manchester City and won a hundred caps for Brazil, told a Brazilian broadcaster on Sunday that the sex had been "consensual".
Robinho won two La Liga titles in four seasons at Real Madrid. He then joined City with what was at the time a British record fee of £32.5m in 2008.
He then joined AC Milan, playing for five seasons before moving to Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande and then returning to his native Brazil with Atletico Mineiro.
