Dani Alves’ sexual assault trial set for Feb. 5 in Barcelona

Former Brazilian defender Dani Alves will be tried from February 5 to 7, 2024 for alleged sexual assault on a woman in a nightclub in 2022, a Spanish court confirmed on Wednesday.

In November, the Barcelona court declared that “there was sufficient evidence to open the trial”, taking into account the statements made in court and the evidence presented during the investigation phase.

Alves, 40, has been in pre-trial detention since January, when he was arrested for allegedly assaulting the woman at a Barcelona nightclub on December 30, 2022. He was charged by an investigating judge in August.

In an order, Section 21 of the Barcelona High Court upheld the charges against Alves, concluding that victim and witness statements as well as expert corroboration provide sufficient evidence to try him for sexual assault.

The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star was arrested in January after being accused of raping a young woman in the toilets of a Barcelona nightclub on December 30 last year.

Alves, 40, has since been held without bail in a Barcelona prison and his requests for release have been rejected by the court because he is considered a flight risk.

When the allegations first came to light, Alves denied in a television interview that he knew the woman involved. He later said the sex with the accuser was consensual.

Alves' contract with Liga MX club Pumas UNAM, the club he joined after leaving Barcelona in June 2022, was terminated on January 20.

Prosecutors hired by the victim are seeking a nine-year prison sentence for Alves. They are also seeking restraining orders against Alves after his prison sentence and asking him to pay damages worth €150,000 ($163,605) to the woman.

Under Spain's sexual consent law passed last year, the charge of sexual assault covers a wide range of crimes from online abuse and touching to rape, each carrying different possible penalties. A rape case can carry a maximum sentence of 15 years.

Adriana García of ESPN in Spain contributed to this report.