Former Barcelona Defender, Dani Alves to Face Rape Trial

Dani Alves, a Brazilian defender, will face sexual assault accusations in Spain, the Catalan High Court said on Monday, July 31.

The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain player was arrested in January on suspicion of raping a young lady in a nightclub restroom late December.

The court said that no date for the trial had been established.

The 40-year-old Brazilian was detained without bail because the court investigating him believed he would attempt to leave.

When the allegation originally surfaced, Alves denied knowing the lady in a televised interview.

When questioned by detectives after his detention, he modified his tale, insisting on consensual interactions.

Alves, who faces up to 12 years in prison if proven guilty, protested his innocence in a June interview, claiming he had a “clear conscience.”

“I have a really clear conscience regarding what happened that night in the bathroom of the VIP area of the Sutton nightclub,” he told the daily newspaper La Vanguardia in his first interview since his arrest.

“What occurred and what did not occur.” And what didn’t happen was that I compelled this lady to do anything,” he continued.

He told La Vanguardia that he first lied because he was frightened his wife would leave him if he acknowledged to having an affair. Alves was on vacation in Barcelona after playing for Brazil at the World Cup in Qatar at the time of the incident.

Dani Alves, who is being imprisoned in the Brians penitentiary complex outside Barcelona, was fired by his Mexican team Pumas UNAM after his arrest.

Alves won 42 football championships in his career, including three Champions Leagues with Barcelona and two Copa Americas with Brazil.