Former Barcelona and Brazil soccer star Dani Alves was acquitted by an appeals court in Spain, which overturned the four-and-a-half-year prison sentence he had received in February of last year due to an alleged sexual assault case at a Barcelona night club in December 2022.
The High Court of Justice in Catalonia allowed Alves, 41, an appeal after a panel of judges deemed the initial conviction contained an array of "inaccuracies."
The judges argued that the initial ruling contained "a series of gaps, inaccuracies, inconsistencies and contradictions regarding the facts, the legal assessment and its consequences."
The incident took place in late December 2022 at the Sutton Nightclub, in Barcelona. According to testimonies from witnesses, the Brazilian soccer player met the woman at a VIP area where she had gone with a friend and her cousin. The woman then followed Alves to a private bathroom where he allegedly physically assaulted her, used insulting language and raped her.
Alves denied any wrongdoing throughout the trial but admitted to a sexual encounter, which he said was consented to by the accuser. At the time of his sentencing, the court concluded that there was enough evidence besides the victim's testimony to determine she did not consent to the encounter.
But according to the court's new ruling, the analysis of surveillance footage from the nightclub signal that the victim's claims does not align with the footage obtained, which shows her "participating in the dance with the defendant in the same way as any other person willing to have a good time would."
In addition, as El País reported, the ruling highlights contradictions in the victim's statements regarding oral sex. The woman stated that she did not perform fellatio in the bathroom before the alleged penetration but DNA evidence found in the complainant's mouth and fingerprints on the toilet signal that there were inconsistencies in the prosecution's account.
"The proven facts seem to associate the complainant's fall and knee injury with vaginal penetration, while the reasoning section links them to fellatio, which it does not consider proven," the ruling stated.
With all the inconsistencies in mind, the court said that, based on the evidence, it was not clear enough to prove Alves was guilty, pointing out that in order to convict someone there needs to be strong evidence.
While informing all parties of the ruling, the court also clarified that just because the prosecution's claims were rejected that did not mean the defense's version was automatically true.
"We are very happy, justice has been served. It has been proven that Alves is innocent," said Inés Guardiola, Alves' lawyer.
Prior to being acquitted, Alves had spent more than a year in custody before being released on bail after paying a €1millionbail in March 2024, set as a request from Alves' defense while all sides waited on the appeal's outcome.
Before being released on bail, Alves had spent 14 months in the Brians 2 prison, in Catalonia.
© 2025 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
