Dani Alves was sentenced on 22 February after being found guilty of raping a young woman in a Barcelona nightclub in December 2022. The 40-year-old footballer was also given a five-year suspended prison sentence and ordered to pay 150,000 euros ($162,000) in compensation to the victim. 

Prosecutors had argued for a heavier sentence, asking for the former Brazilian footballer Dani Alves to be jailed for nine years followed by 10 years' probation.

According to prosecutors, the victim, who testified anonymously behind a screen for her protection, said Alves forcibly had sex with her in a private bathroom at the nightclub despite her pleas to stop.

This act caused her "fear and terror." In sentencing Alves, the Barcelona court "considered as proven the fact that the defendant grabbed the complainant, threw her to the ground and penetrated her vagina, preventing her from moving, while the complainant said no and wanted to leave." 

In October 2022, the Spanish parliament approved the "only yes means yes" law, which tightened the country's criminal code on sexual violence by requiring explicit consent for the sexual activity.