Star of the Brazilian national team and one of the most awarded players in the world, Daniel Alves was arrested in Spain on Friday (23), without the right to bail, after being accused of assault and rape by an unidentified 23-year-old woman.
The Spanish judge who heard testimonies from the alleged victim, the player, and witnesses, in addition to analyzing preliminary evidence in the case, decided to keep Alves in preventive detention without bail due to the high risk of the player leaving the country. Furthermore, Spain does not have an extradition agreement with Brazil.
The sexual assault, for which Alves could face a prison sentence of up to 12 years if found guilty, allegedly occurred on December 30 at the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona. The former Barça player, 39, traveled to Spain last month with his wife, Spanish model Joana Sanz, to celebrate the New Year.
Alves met with friends at the nightclub. According to the 23-year-old woman who reported Alves to the police, she went to Sutton with two friends, where they were invited to the VIP area by a group of Mexicans. Once inside, a waiter told them that someone wanted them to join him at his table.
As reported by the Spanish newspapers El Mundo and El País, that someone was Alves, who allegedly introduced himself to them as a “petanque player in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat [a city on the outskirts of Barcelona].” It was the Mexicans who revealed to them Alves’ true identity. The alleged victim claims she did not know who he was. According to her testimony, while she was dancing with Alves, he tried several times to place her hand on his penis, but she resisted his attempts.
Subsequently, the Brazilian allegedly asked her to follow him through a door, which she discovered was a small bathroom, where the alleged assault occurred around 4:30 AM. She says the player assaulted and raped her. Alves was reportedly the first to leave the bathroom before exiting the nightclub with a friend. The woman went to find her friends, who sought the nightclub’s security. The establishment’s protocol for assisting victims of sexual violence was then activated.
An ambulance took the woman to the hospital, where she underwent examinations to collect evidence. On January 2, she then filed an official complaint against Alves, presenting the hospital report and the clothes she was wearing that night. The player, for his part, had flown back to Mexico, where he stayed until returning to Spain last week after the death of his mother-in-law.
The judge considered the woman’s account to be solid. Her statement was supported not only by the physical evidence collected but also by the recordings from the nightclub’s security cameras.
Alves’ testimony, on the other hand, was deemed contradictory. “I was there with other people, having fun, without invading anyone’s space,” he told Spanish TV Antena 3. “I don’t know who the woman is; I would like to deny everything.” However, El Periódico reported that the security camera footage – which the judge reviewed – shows Alves was in the company of the woman.
The Catalonia newspaper adds that the hospital report states that “some injuries consistent with those of a struggle” were found on the complainant’s body. It was also reported that the player changed his version of events during his testimony, admitting that he had sex with the woman but claiming it was consensual.
Based on previous cases, the player’s preventive detention could last up to 4 years, during which investigations will be conducted and the case may be tried.