By Abimbola Ogunnaike
Catalonia’s top court in Spain on Thursday, 22 February, 2024 sentenced former Barcelona defender, Dani Alves, to four and a half years in prison for sexually assaulting a lady in a nightclub in 2022.
The court also ordered that Alves pay €150,000 to the victim.
“The sentence considers that it has been proven that the victim did not consent and that there is evidence, in addition to the testimony of the plaintiff, to consider the rape proven,” the court said in a statement.
Alves, a former Brazilian international, insisted the sex was consensual.
After the verdict, his lawyers told reporters that he intends to appeal the sentence.
The 40-year-old was first arrested in January 2023, after the incident happened in the early hours of December 31, 2022.
