Follow usBrazilian footballer Dani Alves has been found guilty of raping a woman at a Barcelona nightclub in 2022 and has been sentenced to 4-1/2 years in prison, a verdict his lawyer has confirmed they will appeal.
The top court in Spain’s Catalonia region, the Audiencia Provincial de Barcelona, ordered Alves to pay 150,000 euros ($163,000) to the victim. Alves, who changed his story multiple times, initially denied knowing the woman and later claimed the sexual encounter was consensual.
The court stated that evidence, including the victim’s testimony, the knee injury she sustained, her post-event behavior, and the after-effects, proved the rape. While the prosecutor sought a nine-year prison term and the victim requested 12 years, the court settled on four and a half years, citing a mitigating factor that Alves opted to compensate the victim regardless of the trial outcome.
Alves unsuccessfully argued that his intoxication should be considered a mitigating factor. Alves, a 40-year-old former Barcelona defender, has been in custody since his arrest in January last year. His legal team plans to appeal the conviction, maintaining Alves’ innocence.
Alves’ sexual assault trial at the beginning of February 
Spanish court denies Dani Alves appeal to be freed 
Brazil’s Dani Alves arrested in Spain on suspicion of sexual assault 
