A Spanish court condemned former Brazil international Dani Alves to four and a half years in prison on Thursday after convicting him of raping a young woman.
Dani Alves, the former Brazil international, was found guilty on Thursday of raping a young woman at a nightclub in Barcelona in December 2022. As a result, the Spanish court sentenced him to four and a half years in prison. In addition, it required that the three-time Champions League winner give the victim $150,000 euros ($162,000) in compensation and serve five years of probation after serving his jail sentence. “The rape can be considered proven despite the victim’s lack of consent, as supported by additional evidence beyond the complainant’s testimony,” the Barcelona court stated in a statement.
“The court considers as proven the fact that the defendant abruptly grabbed the complainant, threw her to the ground and penetrated her vaginally, preventing her from moving, while the complainant said no and wanted to leave.”
Prosecutors had recommended a nine-year prison sentence for the 40-year-old, followed by ten years of probation.
Alves, who testified during his trial that his sex with the woman was consensual, may appeal.
Alves, one of the world’s most accomplished footballers who played for Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain during his illustrious career, was on trial earlier this month on charges of raping a woman at the Sutton nightclub on December 31, 2022.
Prosecutors claim that Alves’ accuser, who testified behind a screen to conceal her identity, was the reason behind her “anguish and terror” when she begged him to let her have sex in the nightclub’s private restroom.
The victim was “crying uncontrollably” after leaving the restroom, and her companion sobbed as she described to the court how Alves had “really hurt” the woman.
The victim was upset and in “shock” when they got at the nightclub, and the police officers who responded to her told the court that she was afraid “nobody would believe her” if she reported something.
Alves denied punching the woman and yanking her hair throughout his three-day trial in court. He claimed that his sexual contact with the woman was consensual.
When his defense attorney questioned if he had coerced her into having sex, he responded, “I am not that type of man, I am not violent,” to the court.
“If she wanted to leave, she could have left, she was not obligated to be there,” he stated.
The football star Alves went to the nightclub after drinking wine and whisky, according to his friend who was with him that evening.
His wife Joana Sanz, 31, said in court on Tuesday that she had not wanted to speak to her husband because of “the state he was in” and that he looked extremely inebriated when he returned to their Barcelona house that evening.
Alves, a native of Juazeiro in the Brazilian state of Bahia, first denied knowing the woman in a TV appearance before admitting to having sex with her and claiming it was consensual. In June, he admitted to lying to the newspaper La Vanguardia out of fear that his wife would leave him.
Since his arrest in Barcelona in January 2023, the player has been detained. Due to his wealth, the courts have consistently rejected his petitions to be released on bail, viewing him as a flight risk.
When its nationals are sentenced in another nation, Brazil does not extradite them.
With 42 trophies won throughout a remarkably successful career, Alves is regarded by many as the best defender of all time.
His career peaked with 23 trophies won with Barcelona from 2008 to 2016. He was employed with Mexican team Pumas UNAM at the time of his arrest. Shortly after his arrest, he was fired.
