Dani Alves, perhaps the greatest right-back in football history, has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison by the Barcelona Provincial Court for the rape of a young woman in the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona in the early hours of 31 December 2022. 

The court considered it established that the victim had not consented to the sexual intercourse and that there was evidence, in addition to the complainant's own testimony, to consider the rape as proven and therefore the commission of the crime of sexual assault. 

The court also sentenced Alves to five years of supervised release after his release from prison and to pay the victim 150,000 euros for moral damages and injuries suffered, and a total fine of 9,000 euros for a minor offence of injury. 

The High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJCat) reported that he was also banned from communicating with the complainant (by any means) and from coming within 1,000 metres of her. "The victim did not consent and there is evidence, beyond the complainant's testimony, that allows the rape to be considered proven," the Barcelona court wrote in a statement. 

Prosecutors had requested a nine-year prison sentence, followed by 10 years' probation, for the player who shone for Barcelona between 2008 and 2016, winning 23 titles with the Catalan club.

His accuser, testifying behind a screen to protect her identity, said Alves had violently forced her to have sex in a private toilet at the nightclub despite her pleas to let her go, causing her "fear and terror", prosecutors said.

A friend who was with her broke down in tears as she told the court how the victim was "crying uncontrollably" after leaving the bathroom and said Alves had "really hurt" her. Police officers who attended to the woman told the court about the victim's state of agitation and "shock" when they arrived at the nightclub, as well as her fear that "nobody would believe her" if she made a complaint.

Alves, who was in court during the three-day trial, testified that his sexual encounter with the woman was consensual and denied hitting her and grabbing her by the hair. "I'm not that kind of man, I'm not violent," he told the court after his defence lawyer asked if he had forced her to have sex. 

"If she wanted to leave, she could have left, she was not obliged to be there," added the footballer, who was playing professionally for Mexican club Pumas UNAM at the time of the incident.

According to the prosecution, it all happened in a reserved area of the nightclub, where Alves - who knew the place and was there with a friend - met the woman, who was accompanied by a cousin and a friend. After inviting her to a glass of champagne, the former Brazil international invited the young woman to another exclusive area, where there was a small bathroom that she was unaware of. 

There, according to the Public Ministry, Alves forced her to have sexual intercourse despite her resistance. A friend of Alves who was with him testified that the footballer drank wine and whisky before going there. His wife, Joana Sanz, 31, told the court that he seemed very drunk when he returned to their Barcelona home and she did not want to talk to him because of "the state he was in".

"He reeked of alcohol. He bumped into several pieces of furniture and collapsed on the bed", she told the court. During the trial, the prosecutor, Elisabet Jiménez, considered that the woman had given an "absolutely credible account" from the start of the investigation, and stated that Alves had used "violence" to force the young woman, who "did everything she could" to escape.

Sentence not final

Alves' sentence is not yet final, according to the Spanish criminal justice system. He has the option of trying to have it overturned. His defence team, led by lawyer Inés Guardiola, could appeal to the Catalan High Court. If the Barcelona court's decision is upheld, the player would have one last chance to seek protection with a new appeal to the Supreme Court, Spain's highest judicial body.

Lawyer Guardiola had asked for the case against Dani Alves to be suspended on the grounds that his "fundamental rights", including the right to a defence, had been violated.

During the pre-trial proceedings, the lawyer pointed out several alleged violations of the defendant's rights, starting with the investigation carried out by the Mossos d'Esquadra (local police), which, according to the defence, was carried out "against" the footballer. However, the court decided to proceed with the trial. 

These alleged irregularities, if confirmed on appeal, could lead to the reversal of today's sentence of four and a half years' imprisonment and aggravating circumstances for former player Dani Alves.