Back in January, former Barcelona player Dani Alves was arrested by local police investigating an alleged sexual assault in a nightclub in the Spanish city.
Alves, who played 408 matches for Barca across two spells, as well as 126 times for Brazil, has been in custody since his arrest on January 20 — 321 days ago. He is being held in a prison to the north west of Barcelona.
Advertisement
At the time of the alleged sexual assault on December 30 last year, he was signed to Mexican club Pumas UNAM. They terminated his contract in January.
Alves, who turned 40 in May, has repeatedly denied the allegation, including at several appeal hearings. He has also given different versions of events to investigators and, in an interview in June, admitted initially “lying” about what happened.
With a trial approaching — it was first planned for the end of the year but now appears likely to take place in early 2024 — this article, which contains graphic details of the alleged sexual assault, explains the case so far in full.
What is alleged to have happened?
The chronology of events dates back to December 9 last year, when Croatia beat Brazil in the World Cup quarter-finals in Qatar.
Alves was part of the Brazil squad, and when they were knocked out he returned to Spain to rest with his wife, Joana Sanz. She was taking care of her mother, who was in hospital waiting for an operation.
After a few days in the Canary Islands, Alves left for Barcelona on Friday, December 30. He was going to spend New Year there before returning to Mexico to play with Pumas UNAM. He had tickets to return on January 1.
According to Alves’ version of what followed — as detailed by Spanish media reports of his testimony to investigators and what he told Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia in an interview in June — after arriving in Barcelona, he met up with a friend to go for dinner. After eating, they went on to the Sutton nightclub in a wealthy part of town.
Meanwhile, on that Friday night in another part of town, a 23-year-old woman was having dinner with her cousin and a friend. They decided to go to a bar and ended up at the Sutton club at around 2.30am.
It was there the alleged sexual assault took place.
Advertisement
In testimony made to an investigating judge in February, as reported by Spanish media, at 2.50am, the alleged victim’s cousin said they were invited to the VIP area by some people they had met on the dancefloor in the publicly accessible part of the club.
Once there, she said, Alves and his friend asked them to come and join them, via a waiter.
Alves knew the Sutton club well and had been there several times during his years at Barca — his first and most successful spell at the club was between 2008 and 2016. His party had booked a space on the VIP floor called ‘Moet’, at table number six, which comes with access to a private suite with a private bathroom.
According to the alleged victim’s testimony, she and her friends first declined Alves’ offer, but after a while, and after the waiter asked them again, they decided to go. Alves invited them to a magnum bottle of champagne.
In her testimony, the alleged victim said Alves was constantly hugging her and approaching her. She said that on two occasions, while standing behind her, he grabbed her hand and brought it close to his penis and that she quickly pulled her hand away when she realised his intentions.
This coincides with security camera footage published by the Catalan media outlet Diari Ara. The footage shows Alves touching the woman’s bottom and attempting to move her hand towards his genitals. She pulls her hand away.
GO DEEPER
Xavi apologises for comments on Dani Alves' arrest
According to a court document summarising evidence and testimony gathered by public prosecutors, seen by The Athletic, at 3.42am Alves went over to the door leading to the private suite adjoining the table in the VIP space. He went inside, alone, and after a few minutes he leaned out and asked the alleged victim to come with him. She followed.
Once inside, according to the woman’s testimony, he led her into a small toilet within the suite. She stated she did not know the area, that she did not know the door led to a bathroom. There were no cameras in the private suite.
Advertisement
She said Alves closed the door behind her and began to grope her. She said Alves sat on the toilet seat, grabbed her by the waist and forced her to sit on top of him. She said he lifted up her dress and was contemptuous towards her when she tried to refuse him. She said he then pulled down his trousers, grabbed her by the hair and forced her to her knees, forcing her to perform oral sex on him.
She said she managed to resist and he slapped her several times before forcing her to tell him: “I am your little whore (‘putita’).” The woman said she kept asking Alves to let her go but that he lifted her up, placed her on her back and groped her all over her body, trying to perform oral sex on her without success due to her resistance.
She said he then bent her over the toilet and penetrated her without her consent, without using a condom, before ejaculating inside her.
In November, Spanish media outlet Telecinco published quotes taken from the alleged victim’s testimony.
“I didn’t understand anything and I made like to turn around and he had already closed the door,” she is reported to have testified. “He sat down. And I started telling him: ‘I have to go, I have to go.’
“He grabbed me and made me get on the floor. He tried to get me to give him fellatio. But I was pulling away all the time until he grabbed me by the neck and started slapping my face.
“He already had his pants down. He grabbed me, lifted me up, and put me against where you wash your hands. He wanted to give me oral sex and I got even more nervous. And then there he started to penetrate me very hard, very, very hard. I couldn’t stop it, I couldn’t even speak.”
At 4am, 16 minutes after entering the suite, Alves came out, asked for a drink and went to another table. The woman also left the suite shortly after Alves. She approached her cousin and asked her to leave. According to court documents, she did not speak with Alves, but she did speak with one of his friends before leaving.
Advertisement
As the women made their way to the exit, the alleged victim began to cry and was attended to by nightclub staff, who activated the club’s ‘sexual assault protocol’. This is what the she stated and security camera footage published by Diari Ara confirms the sequence of events described.
The footage also shows Alves leaving the club with his friend at 4.06am, passing by the woman, who was crying and being attended to by staff, without looking at her or speaking to her.
Once outside the club, further security camera footage published by Diari Ara shows the alleged victim crying and pointing to her knee.
An ambulance took the woman to a local hospital. Court documents say she was found to have suffered injuries to her left knee, while a psychologist’s report stated she was displaying signs of having suffered “a stressful or traumatic event”. She made an official complaint to police on January 2.
Alves has given different accounts of what happened that night.
On January 1, he flew to Mexico to join his club team-mates. On January 5, after reports of the police investigation emerged, Spanish TV station Antena 3 broadcast a video message Alves sent to one of its reporters.
He said: “I was in that place (the Sutton club), I was with more people enjoying it. Everyone who knows me knows I like to dance. Enjoying, but without invading the space of others.
“I have never invaded someone’s space without permission. How am I going to do it with a woman, or with whatever girl she is? No, for God’s sake. I’m very sorry, but I don’t know who that lady is. I don’t know her name, I don’t know her. I never saw her in my life.
“Enough is enough because they are doing harm, especially to my people.”
On January 11, Alves’ lawyer contacted the Mossos d’Esquadra (Catalan police) and five days later the player travelled to Barcelona, with his club’s permission.
On January 20, Alves was arrested. Pumas UNAM said they were terminating his contract because “we cannot allow a person’s behaviour to harm our work philosophy”. Club president Leopoldo Silva added: “The club reiterates its commitment to not tolerate acts, by any member of the institution, whoever they may be, that violate the university spirit and its values.”
Advertisement
It also became known, through several reports in Spanish media, that the alleged victim announced her intention to refuse any financial compensation that might be due to her were Alves to be found guilty.
GO DEEPER
Prosecutor requests nine-year Dani Alves jail sentence
According to further media reports, when Alves was questioned by the investigating judge in charge of the case he contradicted what he said in the video provided to Antena 3. He said he did know the alleged victim. He said she had entered the bathroom without being invited, that he had been shocked by this and had not known what to do. He said the woman then jumped on him and gave him oral sex. He said there had not been penetration.
Media reports said this contradiction in Alves’ statements informed the decision to hold him in custody, citing judicial sources. They also said Alves was considered a flight risk, noting his wealth and that Brazil and Spain do not share extradition agreements.
On April 17, Alves testified for a second time before the investigating judge and again changed his story: yes, there was penetration, but it was consensual, he said.
On June 21, an interview with Alves, conducted in prison, was published by La Vanguardia. Alves admitted lying in previous statements — “to save my marriage from infidelity” — as he gave a new version of events.
He said when he and his friends arrived at the club, “as always the person in charge of the VIP approached us to ask us if we wanted to meet a girl”.
Alves added: “That happened whenever I wasn’t with my wife. I told them yes and first two girls approached me. But it bothered us that they wanted to take photos. We asked them to leave. At that moment, the three young women passed by our table and looked at us. We also love them. They were with some Mexicans, who recognised me. They didn’t stop looking at us. We asked the waiter to ask them if they wanted to come closer. And they came. We had Champagne and offered to order anything they wanted. The lady I had the problem with started dancing very close to me. I didn’t move away.”
Advertisement
Alves said he invited the woman into the bathroom in the private suite because “it was evident from the movements and looks that there was an attraction”.
Asked if the alleged victim “repeatedly asked him to stop”, he answered no, that they barely spoke. “She didn’t even make any gesture of wanting to leave,” he said. “The door was open at all times.”
Alves said he could not explain the woman’s reaction after leaving the bathroom, nor the version of events she has presented. He said he “didn’t see her crying” when he left the club.
“If someone in charge of the nightclub had asked me to wait because a young woman claimed that I had sexually assaulted her, I would not go home,” he added. “That same night I would go to a police station to clarify what had happened.
“I have a clear conscience. I have never intentionally hurt anyone. And neither did she that night. I don’t know if she has a clear conscience, if she sleeps well at night. I forgive her, I still don’t know why she did all this, but I forgive her.
“As soon as I was able to tell my wife what had really happened that night and asked her forgiveness, I wanted to testify again and tell the truth.”
What stage is the case at now?
Alves has been in jail since January 20. He was first admitted to the Can Brians 1 prison and a few days later he was transferred to Can Brians 2. Both are located to the north west of Barcelona, about 30 minutes from the city by car.
He has had two bail requests rejected, decisions the Barcelona Court of Appeals upheld. According to La Vanguardia, Alves’ lawyers tried to reach an agreement with the alleged victim to avoid going to trial, but no agreement was reached. The woman’s lawyer said the approach had been rejected “in the light of the irreparable consequences suffered by the alleged victim”.
Advertisement
On November 14, a judge at Spain’s National Court declared a trial would take place. A date for the trial has not yet been announced, but recent reports have suggested it will likely be set for February.
On November 23, public prosecutors announced their intention to request a nine-year prison sentence for Alves, as well as for him to pay the alleged victim €150,000 in compensation (£128,500; $162,000 at current exchange rates), while the alleged victim’s defence team has called for a 12-year prison sentence.
(Top photo: Mauricio Salas/Jam Media/Getty Images)
