Spanish Court Cancels Dani Alves' Decision On Sexual Assault Allegations

Dani Alves is free from the verdict on charges of sexual assault after the appeal was received (Twitter/@pumasmx).

JAKARTA - Brazilian footballer and former Barcelona player Dani Alves won his appeal against a verdict over allegations of sexual assault. The Spanish court overturned the verdict on Friday, March 28, 2025, local time in the case that lasted more than three years and the right-back spent 14 months in prison.

Alves was found guilty in February 2024 of the rape of a woman in a nightclub in December 2022. He was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. Alves denied wrongdoing during a three-day trial.

The court ruled on Friday, March 28, 2025, that there was insufficient evidence to rule out the presumption of Alves' innocence.

"Dani Alves is innocent and it has been proven. Justice has finally been upheld," defense attorney Ines Guardiola told Catalan RAC1 radio.

The plaintiff's lawyer did not immediately respond to The Associated Press when he was sent an email and a message asking for comment.

The Alves case trial is the first case to receive much attention since Spain overhauled its law in 2022.

In the law, approval as the main thing in defining sexual crimes was in response to a wave of protests following the mass rape case during the San Fermin bull run festival in Pamplona in 2016.

The law is known to define approval as an explicit expression of a person's wishes, which makes it clear that silence or passiveness is not the same as consent.

However, the four Barcelona-centric appeals court judges unanimously decided to drop the verdict after reviewing the evidence and testimony given to lower courts.

In their decision, they wrote that the plaintiff's testimony was very different from the video footage taken before the woman and Alves entered the bathroom where he said the player forced him to have sex without his consent.

Prior to last year's trial, the woman told state prosecutors she had danced with Alves in a nightclub and voluntarily walked into the bathroom.

However, then when he wanted to leave, Alves didn't allow it. He said Alves slapped him, insulted him, and forced him to have sex without his will.

Alves denied the allegations in the three-day trial.

"He never told me to stop. We both had fun," Alves said, repeating that the woman never asked to leave or showing signs that she didn't want to have sex with her. Alves also denied slapping or insulting her.

Alves, who is now 41 years old, was held in prison from January 20, 2023 to March 2024 until he was released after paying 1 million euros for collateral pending his appeal.

He also handed over his passport. Meanwhile, the prosecutor argued that he would not be released on bail because of the possible risk of escaping.

Prosecutors want his prison sentence to be increased to nine years, while the woman's attorney wants her to remain behind bars for 12 years.

This decision can be appealed to the Spanish Supreme Court in Madrid.

Meanwhile, Alves is one of the most successful players of his generation and won dozens of titles with elite clubs, including Barcelona, Juventus, and Paris Saint-Germain.

He was with the MX Pumas League club when he was arrested. Pumas immediately terminated his contract.