(Updated with Alves’ decision to appeal)
BARCELONA, February 22 (Reuters) – Spanish justice on Thursday sentenced former Brazilian footballer Dani Alves to four and a half years in prison for the rape of a woman in December 2022 in a nightclub in Barcelona.
Dani Alves, who played for Paris Saint-Germain from 2017 to 2019 after winning numerous trophies with FC Barcelona, was officially on trial for “sexual assault”, the criminal qualification of which includes rape in Spain.
The former defender of the Brazil team, in pre-trial detention since January 2023, will also have to pay 150,000 euros to his victim.
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“The verdict considers that it has been proven that the victim did not consent and that there are elements, in addition to the testimony of the complainant, to consider that the rape is established,” writes the Catalan court in its judgment .
The former footballer will appeal this decision, announced his lawyer, Ines Guardiola.
Dani Alves, 40, has consistently maintained that her accuser consented.
The prosecution had requested nine years in prison. (Reporting Joan Faus, French version Bertrand Boucey, edited by Kate Entringer)
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