Spanish prosecutors seek 9-year jail term for ex-Brazil star Dani Alves

BARCELONA – Spanish prosecutors are seeking a nine-year jail term for former Brazil star Dani Alves, who is accused of raping a young woman at a Barcelona nightclub in December 2022.

Prosecutors have also demanded the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain fullback – who has been in jail in Spain since his arrest in January – pay his alleged victim €150,000 (S$219,000) in compensation, according to a copy of his indictment seen by AFP on Nov 23.

They asked for a restraining order for Alves following the jail term as well.

A date for his trial had not yet been set. The 40-year-old has maintained that he had consensual sex with his accuser.

“I have a really clear conscience regarding what happened that night in the bathroom of the VIP area of the Sutton nightclub,” he told Barcelona-based newspaper La Vanguardia in an interview published in June, his first since his arrest.

“What happened and what didn’t happen. What didn’t happen is that I forced this woman to do anything that we did.”

But when the story first broke – and before he was arrested – Alves in a television interview initially denied knowing the woman who filed a police complaint against him on Jan 2.

“I was dancing and having a good time without invading anyone’s space,” he told Spanish TV channel Antena 3.

“I don’t know who this lady is. How could I do that to a woman? No.”

Alves then told La Vanguardia that he had lied at first because he was afraid his wife would leave him if he admitted he had been with another woman.

The indictment offers a detailed description of what, according to prosecutors, happened at the upscale nightclub.

After meeting at the venue, Alves invited the woman to enter a small enclosure which she says she did not know was a toilet.

Once inside, the footballer showed a “violent attitude” towards the woman, whom he forced to have intercourse despite her resistance.

Under Spain’s law governing sexual violence passed in 2022, sexual assault takes in a wide array of crimes, ranging from online abuse and groping to rape, each with different possible punishments.

A case of rape can carry a maximum sentence of 15 years.

At the time of the incident, Alves was on holiday in Barcelona after playing for Brazil at the World Cup in Qatar.

After his arrest, he was sacked by his Mexican club Unam.

In a highly successful career, Alves has won more than 40 trophies, including three Champions Leagues with Barcelona and two Copa Americas with Brazil.

At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, he became the oldest player to represent Brazil at football’s showpiece tournament. AFP, REUTERS