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A Spanish appeals court reversed the rape conviction of former Brazil international footballer Dani Alves on Friday, ruling that his trial was flawed and contained “shortcomings” and “inaccuracies.”
Alves was sentenced to four and a half years in prison in February of the previous year for assaulting a young woman in the VIP restroom of a Barcelona nightclub on December 31, 2022.
The 41-year-old, who won three Champions League titles with Barcelona, was released last March after paying a court-set bail of one million euros ($1.1 million) while awaiting his appeal.
The appeals court announced that its four judges had “unanimously” approved the athlete’s appeal and “overturned” his conviction. The court also dismissed the appeal by public prosecutors, who sought a harsher sentence of nine years.
According to the court’s ruling, Alves’ trial had “a series of gaps, inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and contradictions concerning the facts, the legal evaluation, and its outcomes.”
During the trial, the victim, who provided her testimony behind a screen to safeguard her identity, indicated that Alves had forcefully compelled her to engage in sexual intercourse while she pleaded with him to stop, causing her “anguish and terror,” as per the prosecutors who were present during her statement.
Alves first claimed he had never encountered the woman, but subsequently stated they had consensual sex. His defence team argued during the trial that the victim had been “glued” to the player while dancing at the nightclub.
Dani Alves was a crucial member of an exceptional Barcelona team that won six La Liga championships. He earned 126 caps for Brazil and captured the Copa America twice. He also achieved European league titles with the Italian club Juventus and the French team Paris Saint-Germain.
He was contracted to the Mexican club Pumas UNAM when he was arrested, but he was dismissed shortly thereafter.
