Prosecutors are asking for a nine-year prison term for former Brazil football star Dani Alves, who is accused of raping a woman at a posh nightclub. Alves’ trial is scheduled for Monday in Barcelona.
At a court in Spain’s second city, where the 40-year-old former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain player has been detained since his arrest in January 2023, the high-profile trial is set to begin at 10 am (0900 GMT).
In the early hours of December 31, 2022, a young woman accuses Alves of raping her in the VIP area of the posh Sutton nightclub in Barcelona.
Alves initially denied knowing the woman in a television interview, but now he claims to have had consensual sex with his accuser.
Public prosecutors have requested that Alves be sentenced to nine years in prison and compensate his alleged victim with one hundred fifty euros ($162,000).
The media will be able to follow the trial proceedings, with the exception of when Alves’ accuser takes the stand, as the court denied the prosecution’s request for the trial to be held behind closed doors.
She won’t have to be “visually confronted with the accused,” and her identity won’t be made public.
Alves was there that night with a friend and was familiar with the nightclub’s layout, according to the prosecution. It was during his vacation in Barcelona that he had returned from representing Brazil in the World Cup held in Qatar.
The young woman claims that Alves invited her to enter a small enclosure at the nightclub, which she claims she was unaware was a restroom, after offering champagne to her and her friend.
Prosecutors claim that once inside, the football player adopted a “violent attitude” toward the woman, forcing her to have sex against her will.
As stated in the indictment, “the victim asked him several times… to let her go, saying she wanted to leave but the defendant prevented her from doing so.” The young woman was put in a “situation of anguish and terror.”
Prosecutors claim that the woman is being treated for “post-traumatic stress of overall high intensity” after obtaining medical attention following her exit from the nightclub.
In June, Alves told the Barcelona-based daily La Vanguardia that he had initially told lies about knowing his accuser out of fear that his wife would divorce him if he confessed to having an affair.
“I have a very clear conscience about what transpired that evening in the Sutton nightclub’s VIP area bathroom,” he stated to the newspaper.
What took place and what did not? Furthermore, I didn’t make this woman do anything against our will.
Alves’s request to be released pending his trial has been repeatedly denied by Spanish courts, who claim there is a chance he may escape to his home country of Brazil, which doesn’t usually extradite its citizens.
In Spain, a plea agreement can be reached up until the beginning of the trial, so Alves could still confess to the crime in exchange for a lighter sentence.
Although the accuser’s attorney acknowledged in November that “talks” had been held at the player’s legal team’s request but that they had not resulted in a deal, she denied having reached such an agreement.
On Wednesday, the trial is anticipated to conclude.
Alves was fired by his Mexican team, Pumas UNAM, following his arrest.
Alves had a very successful career, winning 42 trophies, including two Copa Americas with Brazil and three Champions Leagues with Barcelona.
He made history as the oldest player to represent Brazil in the premier football competition at the 2022 World Cup.
