Dani Alves, the former Brazil football star, is set to go on trial in Spain over allegations of raping a woman at a Barcelona nightclub in December 2022, News About Nigeria gathered.
The trial is scheduled to take place in Barcelona between February 5-7, as announced by a Spanish court on Wednesday.
Prosecutors are seeking a nine-year jail term for the 40-year-old former Barcelona full-back, who has been in jail in Spain since his arrest in January.
Additionally, they are demanding that Alves pay 150,000 euros ($163,500) in compensation to his alleged victim.
Alves has consistently maintained that the sexual encounter was consensual.
In an interview with Barcelona-based newspaper La Vanguardia in June, Alves said, “I have a really clear conscience regarding what happened that night in the bathroom of the VIP area of the Sutton nightclub.”
He denied forcing the woman into anything against her will.
The charges arose when the woman filed a police complaint on January 2, leading to Alves’ arrest.
Initially denying knowing the woman in a television interview before his arrest, Alves later admitted lying.
According to him, he was afraid that his wife would leave him if he acknowledged being with another woman.
The trial will be held in Barcelona, where prosecutors allege that Alves invited the woman into a small enclosure at the Sutton nightclub.
Inside, the footballer is accused of displaying a ‘violent attitude’ and forcing intercourse despite the woman’s resistance.
The high-profile trial is expected to address the alleged sexual assault in accordance with Spain’s sexual consent law.
