Conditions canceled: Court of appeal speaks footballer Dani Alves

An appellate court in Barcelona acquired Brazilian football professional Dani Alves from the accusation of sexual aggression against a young woman. The chamber, which was occupied by three women and one man, unanimously raised the conviction of the 41-year-old from February last year to four and a half years in prison and to pay a compensation to the woman in the amount of 150,000 euros and spoke him free.

The first instance court had seen it as proven a year ago that Alves had forced the young woman for sex in the night of December 31, 2022 in a toilet of a night club in Barcelona. Alves, on the other hand, assured that the sex was mutually acceptable. The Court of Appeal now complained that the assumption that sex was not mutually acceptable had only been based on the information of the young woman.

Court sees “gaps, inaccuracies, contradictions”

However, this is not sufficient, since the woman’s statements were not covered by the recordings of surveillance cameras. “It is explicitly stated that what she describes does not correspond to reality,” criticized the court of appeal. In the event of a conviction, the requirements for the justification are also particularly strict. The decision of the first instance contained “a number of gaps, inaccuracies, contradictions and disagreements,” criticized the court of appeal.

Alves free against millions of deposits

The former Barça professional had been in custody for a total of 14 months and had been released against a million euros after the conviction in March 2024. In order to prevent escape, the judiciary claimed to have the two passports of the athlete, who has also had Spanish citizenship since 2005.

The 126-time international of Seleção, who also played in Europe for FC Sevilla, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus Turin, had played at the Club Unam Pumas until his arrest in Mexico.