Brazilian faces long prison sentence
Barça legend Alves testifies in tears
Dani Alves is facing a long prison sentence: The professional soccer player is on trial on charges of sexual aggression. Alves testifies in tears on the last day of the trial.
In the trial against Dani Alves for sexual aggression, the professional footballer tearfully rejected allegations of raping a young woman. “She didn't tell me that she didn't want to,” said the 40-year-old Brazilian at the end of the third and final day of the trial in the regional court in Barcelona. “We both enjoyed it,” Alves said. The then 23-year-old accuses Alves of forcing her to have sex in a nightclub in Barcelona on December 30, 2022. On January 20, Alves was arrested while visiting Catalonia.
After a good year in custody, Alves is threatened with a long prison sentence: the public prosecutor's office is demanding nine years in prison and 150,000 euros in damages, while the plaintiff's lawyers are demanding twelve years. The verdict is expected to be announced by the end of February. The former Barça professional confirmed in front of the three judges and numerous journalists that the sexual acts had taken place with the young woman's consent. The Brazilian, meanwhile, admitted that he was drunk that night.
Lying during the investigation
During the investigation, Alves initially denied any sexual contact with the woman, according to a statement from the Catalan judiciary. The footballer explained in court that he lied at the beginning to “save his marriage”. “I thought my wife wouldn't forgive me.”
The woman accusing Alves was questioned at the start of the trial in camera to protect her identity. The three-day criminal trial heard from more than two dozen witnesses and experts. Two of the young woman's companions as well as police officers, doctors and nightclub employees said that the young woman was “in shock” after the incident. The 126-time Seleção international has been in custody in Barcelona since January last year. Before his arrest, he had played for the UNAM Pumas club in Mexico.
Record player Alves
FIFA lists 44 official titles for Alves, which he collected over the course of his career with FC Barcelona in Europe and with Juventus Turin and Paris Saint-Germain. This collection makes him the most successful professional footballer in the world. He won the Champions League three times and led the Brazilian team to Olympic victory in 2021.
Alves played 408 competitive games for FC Barcelona alone; of all the foreign players in the club's great history, only Argentine superstar Lionel Messi appeared more often for the Catalans. The defender scored eight goals in 126 international matches for Brazil.
