Former Brazilian right-back Dani Alves was sentenced on Thursday February 22 to four and a half years in prison for the rape in 2022 of a young woman in a Barcelona nightclub, the Catalan city's court announced. The events took place on the night of December 30 to 31, 2022, in the toilets of a VIP room at the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona.
“The victim did not consent and there is evidence which, beyond the testimony of the complainant, allows the rape to be considered proven,” the court wrote in a press release.
The prosecution had requested nine years in prison against the former FC Barcelona and Paris-Saint-Germain player. Dani Alves was also ordered to pay 150,000 euros to the victim and five years of supervised release after serving his sentence. During the trial, the latter refuted any form of violence against the complainant.
Dani Alves has changed versions several times
In pre-trial detention for a year, the 40-year-old former Brazilian international defended himself by asserting that the complainant had “at no time (…) said anything” to leave. “If she wanted to leave, she could leave at any time, she didn’t have to be there,” the former right-back added, saying he was “not a violent man.”
“If at any point, (the woman) says ‘no further’, it’s ‘no further’. Mr. Alves cannot continue if the victim does not give consent,” replied the prosecutor, who considered that the young woman had “done what she could.” “The court considers as proven the fact that the accused suddenly grabbed the complainant, threw her to the ground and penetrated her vaginally, preventing her from moving, while the complainant said no and wanted go away,” the court added in its judgment.
Suffering, according to the public prosecutor, from “post-traumatic stress of generally high intensity”, the victim had testified behind closed doors, in order to protect her identity, and behind a screen to avoid any visual contact with Alves. His voice had been modified and his face pixelated on the recording, intended for the exclusive use of the judges, in case it leaked.
Dani Alves' defense had also been weakened by numerous changes of version. After claiming in a video at the beginning of January 2023 that he had never met the complainant, he justified his lie by explaining that he wanted to protect his marriage, before ending up admitting a sexual relationship with the complainant, according to him, consensual.
