Spanish prosecutors are seeking a nine-year jail term for former Brazil star Dani Alves, accusing him of raping a young woman at a Barcelona nightclub in December 2022. The prosecutors have also demanded that the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain full-back pay his alleged victim €150,000 ($163,500) in compensation.
Alves, who has been in jail in Spain since his arrest in January, has maintained that he had consensual sex with the accuser. The date for his trial has not yet been set. The indictment details the prosecutors’ version of the events, alleging that Alves invited the woman to a small enclosure in the upscale Sutton nightclub, showing a “violent attitude” and forcing her into intercourse despite her resistance.
The former footballer, who won numerous accolades in his career, including three Champions Leagues with Barcelona and two Copa Americas with Brazil, was sacked by his Mexican club Pumas UNAM after his arrest. If convicted, Alves could face a maximum sentence of nine years under Spain’s sexual consent law passed last year, which covers a range of offenses from online abuse and groping to rape, each carrying different possible punishments.