Dani Alves: Former Barcelona defender handed four-and-a-half-year prison sentence over sexual assault
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Dani Alves has been slammed with a hefty spell behind bars after being found guilty of rape | Credit: IMAGO

FOOTBALL Dani Alves: Former Barcelona defender handed four-and-a-half-year prison sentence over sexual assault

Joel Omotto 14:32 - 22.02.2024

Former Barcelona right-back Dani Alves has been jailed for four-and-a-half years after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman at a Barcelona nightclub in December 2022.

Former Barcelona defender Dani Alves has been handed a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence after being found guilty of sexual assault by a court in Spain.

Catalonia’s top court found Alves guilty of sexually assaulting a woman at a Barcelona nightclub in December 2022 and handed him the hefty sentence while also ordering him to pay 150,000 euros (Ksh23,685,110) to the victim.

“The sentence considers that it has been proven that the victim did not consent, and that there is evidence, in addition to the testimony of the plaintiff, to consider the rape proven,” the court said via a statement.

Alves had maintained his innocence, insisting the sex was consensual, but he will now have to serve the sentence or appeal the court’s ruling.

Further, Alves has been slapped with a nine and a half year restraining order, prohibiting any contact with the victim upon his release.

Even after completing his prison term, Alves will be required to serve five years' worth of probation.

The prosecution was seeking a nine-year prison sentence for the 40-year-old former Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus right-back who was arrested last January and has been in custody since.

This is one of the most high-profile trials in Spain since the country passed a law in 2022 which made consent a key element in sexual assault cases and also increased the minimum prison sentence for assaults involving violence.

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