Former Barcelona Player Threatened With 12 Years In Prison In Rape Case

Dani Alves is undergoing trial for the rape case (Instagram/@danialves).

JAKARTA - Daniel Alves underwent trial at the Audiencia Barcelona Provincial Court in a case of rape in a nightclub toilet on Monday, February 5, 2024, local time. The former Barcelona player faces up to 12 years in prison.

The Brazilian came to court in a police car from Brians 2 Prison, near Barcelona, where he has been detained for more than a year.

In fact, Alves is scheduled for trial in November 2023, but the agenda is only currently being implemented.

Prosecutors said they wanted him to be jailed for nine years if he was found to have raped a woman at a Barcelona nightclub on December 30, 2022.

The father of two had previously confirmed that he had sex with a woman in a nightclub toilet called koloss's, but insisted that it was done on a consensual basis.

The victim's lawyer called for Dani Alves to face a maximum prison sentence of 12 years if he is found guilty.

In addition, the two prosecutors also asked for compensation payments of 128,000 pounds or around Rp. 2.5 billion. The 40-year-old player's trial will last for three days.

Meanwhile, initially Dani Alves admitted that he had never met the woman. However, then he pulled back and said the couple had sex on a consensual basis.

It was also reported that Dani Alves put his hands in a woman's underwear in the toilet in the VIP area of a nightclub.

However, it was later revealed that the victim had become a victim of rape. The statement was obtained from the testimony of the victim which was carried out behind closed doors.

His cousin and a female friend of the victim who were with him at that time on the night of the alleged sexual harassment were among the witnesses summoned.

They will provide evidence with the waiters in the VIP shot's area, where Alves met the victim.

Alves' wife, Joana Sanz, will also testify on behalf of Dani Alves after the former Barcelona player apologized by calling herself having an affair with the victim in pre-trial.

Dani Alves was sacked by a Mexican club, UNAM Pumas, following his arrest at Barcelona early last year after he flew to the capital Catalan to attend his mother-in-law's funeral.

He has applied for bail repeatedly, but all of them have been rejected. The judge said that the victim's version made sense and showed that Alves had changed the story several times because the evidence the authorities had against him had emerged.

In addition to the two periods at Barcelona, Alves has also played for Sevilla, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, and Sao Paulo.

He is considered one of the greatest full-time full-backs. He became the oldest player to play for Brazil at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Earlier this year, his mother, Lucia Alves, caused controversy and allowed herself to be open to prosecution in the future. He mentioned and described the molester of rape of his son in a social media post that he has now deleted.