Ex-Barcelona star Dani Alves has been found guilty of raping a woman in a Barcelona nightclub.
The 40-year-old former footballer has been sentenced to four and a half years behind bars, as The Sun reports.
In a trial held in Barcelona earlier this month, the footballer denied the allegations and said the encounter had been consensual.
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The trial, held at Barcelona’s Audiencia Provincial Court, lasted three days with the alleged victim, witnesses and experts testifying.
The Brazilian defender was accused of raping a woman in a Barcelona nightclub on December 30, 2022.
He has previously confirmed he had sex with a woman in the nightclub’s toilet but insisted it was consensual.
Alves has been held in pre-trial detention since his arrest in January 2023.
In a brief statement, the Barcelona court said on Wednesday it had “summoned all parties in the Alves case, including the defendant, to appear in court for a so-called ‘notification procedure’.”
His accuser told the prosecution that she had willingly entered the bathroom with him, but that he forced her to stay after she wanted to leave.
She claims that he was aggressive with her, slapping her and insulting her, and then forced her to have sex with him.
During the first day of the footballer’s trial a friend and cousin of his accuser claimed he also groped them in the VIP area.
The two women claim he then invited their friend, the alleged rape victim, to follow him through a separate door after flirting with her.
His ex-wife Joana Sanz told the court Alves “smelled of alcohol” and “he bumped into several pieces of furniture and collapsed on the bed” after arriving home the night of the alleged assault.
But she said she didn’t want to talk to him because of “the state he was in”.
Alves has made repeated bail requests but they have all been turned down, with judges saying his alleged victim’s version of events was coherent and pointing out Alves had changed his story several times as the evidence authorities have against him emerged.
In an exclusive interview from his cell in Brians 2 Prison near Barcelona last June with Spanish TV and newspaper reporter Mayka Navarro, he claimed: “The only person I have to ask for forgiveness is my wife, Joana Sanz.”
This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission
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