Dani Alves to be prosecuted for rape in Barcelona, ordered to pay €150k

Former Sevilla, Barcelona and Brazil defender Dani Alves is set to be prosecuted with rape by the Spanish legal system on Wednesday, following an investigation that was opened in the early stages of 2023.

Alves has spent the last six months in custody after being declared a flight risk by the judge, denying him bail. Alves was under investigation for sexual assault after an incident that took place on the 30th of December in a Barcelona nightclub. Alves handed himself in three weeks later, but Cadena Cope say he has since given four different accounts of the events on the night.

On Wednesday the judge will inform him that the investigation has been closed, and that he is being prosecuted for rape, and will then have 24 hours to pay the proposed €150k in damages. That would then cover the damages due to the victim, if he is found guilty.

There is still some way to go in the legal process, and the trial is yet to begin, but the judge has deemed that there is sufficient evidence to take the case to a trial.

Alves maintains his innocence, and claims that while he did have sexual relations with the 23-year-old woman, it was consensual.

The court case is likely to take place in several months, with the general prediction that a trial would begin around October of this year. At that point, Alves would have been in prison for nine months.