Ex-FC Barcelona defender Dani Alves has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison for sexual assault by a court in Barcelona, Spain.
The 40-year-old Brazillian footballer was found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in an upscale Barcelona nightclub early on New Year’s Eve in December 2022.
Alves has been in custody since January 2023, following unsuccessful bail requests.
His lawyer had asked for him to be acquitted and Alves could appeal against the sentence.
BBC reports that Alves was accused of luring the woman to a toilet in a VIP section of the nightclub and claimed that she could have left if she wanted to.
The court ruled that the victim did not consent to sexual intercourse and that there is evidence to prove the rape that Alves was accused of carrying out in a bathroom of the Sutton nightclub’s VIP section in the early hours of 31 December 2022.
According to prosecutors, Alves and his friend purchased champagne for three young women, then requested one of them to go with him to a different area with a toilet that she was not aware of.
They claimed he became aggressive and proceeded to engage in sexual activity with the woman against her wishes.
The court also said that there was additional evidence supporting the victim’s claim of being raped beyond her testimony.
Alves made over 400 appearances for Barcelona, securing six league titles and three Champions League trophies during his two stints with the team.
He was a member of Brazil’s team for the 2022 World Cup.
He was arrested three weeks after the incident and detained ever since while accused of “sexual assault with penetration”.
Prosecutors called for a nine-year prison term for Alves followed by 10 years of probation. They also wanted him to pay $163,000 (€150,000) in compensation to the victim, which has been ordered by the court.
Alves denied any wrongdoing during the trial. As the case was being investigated, Alves said while in custody that he did not have any sexual contact with her.
He later admitted to sexual relations but said they were consensual. He said he had been trying to save his marriage by not admitting to the encounter initially.
Alves told Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia that he had originally lied because he was afraid his wife Joanna Sanz would leave him.
In Spain, charges of rape are looked into under the general heading of sexual assault, and those found guilty face terms ranging from four to fifteen years in jail.
According to BBC News, the law was changed recently to enshrine the importance of consent under the “Only Yes is Yes” principle.
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