Former Barcelona star Dani Alves is due to go on trial for rape this morning in Spain with the threat of a 12-year prison sentence hanging over his head.
The Brazil international, 40, will be driven to court in a police van from Brians 2 Prison near the Catalan capital, where he has been held on remand for over a year.
State prosecutors have said they wanted him jailed for nine years if convicted of raping a 23-year-old woman in a toilet at Barcelona's upmarket Sutton nightclub on December 30 2022.
A lawyer acting for Alves' female accuser, who is prosecuting the father-of-two on her behalf, has called for him to face the maximum 12-year prison sentence if he is found guilty.
Both prosecutors are also seeking a compensation payment of €150,000 (£128,000).
The former Barcelona defender has denied wrongdoing but admitted to having cheated on his wife with his accuser, insisting sex was consensual.
Failing an eleventh-hour plea bargain deal, the trial will start at 10am local time (9am GMT) at Barcelona's Audiencia Provincial Court and is scheduled to last for three days.
The three judges, who are sitting without a jury - as is normal in Spain for sex crime cases - have around a fortnight to return their verdict once the trial ends and will announce their decision in a written ruling.
Alves, who can opt to take the stand on the last day, has insisted he had consensual sex with the woman who has accused him of forcing himself on her.
After seeing bail refused last June, Alves told Cuatro programme 'En Boca de todos': 'It will be proven that I am not guilty and it was a consensual relationship.
'It would never cross my mind to impose a sexual act on anyone.'
His accuser has been given permission to testify behind-closed-doors.
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