Brazilian star footballer Dani Alves is, arguably, one of the best right-backs in the modern game. A Barcelona legend, Alves made history last year, when – at 39 years and 210 days – he became the oldest Brazilian to start a World Cup match, taking the field against Cameroon in the Qatar World Cup.
But, he has been in news in recent months for a wrong reason. Alves, 40, is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a nightclub in Barcelona on December 30. He was provisionally detained in January in Spain. Alves has denied any wrongdoing and said sex with the accuser was consensual.
Alves had returned to Spain from Mexico, where he was playing for Pumas UNAM. They have since terminated his contract.
Earlier this week, a Spanish court rejected his bail plea. His lawyer had asked for him to be released if he surrendered his passport and wore an electronic tag.
The court had previously denied a similar request by Alves's defence team in May.
The court rejected the request, saying it considered him to be a flight risk. "There is a high risk of fleeing as... the severe punishment he faces in the present case and his economic [resources] might would make it possible for him... to leave Spain at any time," the Barcelona court said in a statement.
Alves's lawyers had tried to discredit testimony by the alleged victim and other witnesses by presenting security camera footage showing that Alves and the victim were flirting with each other at the nightclub. But the court said in its ruling on Monday that the flirting should not in any way justify an eventual sexual assault.
Under Spain's sexual consent law passed last year, sexual assault takes in a wide array of crimes from online abuse and groping to rape, each with different possible punishments. A case of rape can receive a maximum sentence of 15 years.
Alves played 408 matches for Barcelona across two spells, winning six La Liga titles and three Champions Leagues between 2008 and 2016. He had briefly rejoined Barcelona last season before playing at the World Cup with Brazil in Qatar.
He has won two Confederations Cup (2009, 2013) with Brazil, two Copa Americas (2007, 2019) and an Olympic gold at Tokyo in 2020.
Another Bazilian star in the dock
Meanwhile, a high court in Brazil will move forward with Italy's case against another Brazilian star Robinho, who was sentenced in Europe to nine years in prison for rape.
In a ruling late on Wednesday, Brazil's superior court of justice set a date of August 2 to decide whether the Italian government must translate Robinho's full case into Portuguese and then send it to Brazilian authorities for further analysis, as requested by the former player's lawyer.
Italian authorities want the 39-year-old Robinho to serve his sentence in Brazil, but the Brazilian court is yet to agree. Brazil doesn't extradite nationals.
Robinho was convicted in Italy in 2017 for his part in the group sexual assault in Milan that took place four years previously, when he was playing for Serie A team AC Milan. Italy's top court upheld the Brazilian's sentence in 2022, after which Italian prosecutors issued an international arrest warrant.
Robinho lives in Santos, outside Sao Paulo. He relinquished his passport to Brazilian authorities in March.
His lawyers claim he had consensual sexual relations at a bar with a young woman, as five of his friends also did.
If the Brazilian court rejects Robinho's request for a full translation from Italy, it will be able to rule on his future.
