Dani Alves of Brazil was denied bail by a Spanish judge while an investigation into an alleged sexual assault continues.
Alves, 39, has been detained since January on suspicion of assaulting a lady in a nightclub in Barcelona in December. He claims he did nothing wrong.
His attorney had requested that he should be allowed to leave if he turned in his passport and wore an electronic tag.
The court denied the application because it believed he posed a flight risk.
In a statement, the Barcelona court stated that “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.”
After Alves was detained in January, Mexican team Pumas UNAM canceled his contract.
Between 2008 and 2016, Alves participated in 408 games for Barcelona over two stints, earning six La Liga championships and three Champions Leagues.
In addition to playing for Juventus and Paris St-Germain, the defender has made 126 appearances for Brazil, including two appearances at the 2022 World Cup.
Dani Alves
Brazilian professional footballer Daniel Alves da Silva, also known as Dani Alves (born May 6, 1983), most recently played right back for Liga MX club UNAM and the Brazil national team.
Alves, who is regarded as one of the greatest full-backs of all time, has won 43 official titles overall and 41 titles at the senior level, making him the most decorated player in the annals of professional football.
Alves, who has played in all of Brazil’s international matches since 2006, is the team’s all-time second-most capped player.
He played for them in five Copa América competitions, three FIFA World Cups, and three FIFA Confederations Cups, winning the 2007 and 2019 editions of the latter event.
He earned a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Individually, Alves has been named to the IFFHS CONMEBOL Team of the Decade (2011-2020), the FIFA Confederations Cup Team of the Tournament (2013), the Copa América Team of the Tournament (2019), and the Copa América Best Player Award (2019).
Why Is Alves Locked Up?
On December 30, 2022, the claimed assault allegedly took place in a club in Barcelona.
On January 2, 2023, the complainant had submitted a formal complaint.
According to El Periódico de Catalunya, the complainant told police and the judge that after a waiter took her to meet Alves in the VIP area of the nightclub, Alves twice forced her to touch his penis against her will.
He then told her to follow him into the bathroom, blocked her from leaving, threw her to the ground, slapped her, tried to force her to fall on top of him, put her up against the sink, moved her to the toilet, and forcefully had sex with her.
According to El Periódico, semen that matched Alves’ DNA was obtained from samples taken from the complainant’s vagina, her underwear, her dress, and the bathroom floor.
A hospital also confirmed that the complainant had sustained a knee injury consistent with her claims, and investigators discovered seven fingerprints scattered throughout the bathroom that matched the complainant’s account of what happened.
At least three different reports of the incident have been provided by Alves. Three variations were described in El Periódico.
In the initial iteration, Alves claimed not to know the lady and accused her of inventing the complaint in an effort to get notoriety, according to media station Antena 3.
He claimed that he didn’t realize she was already using the restroom when he went in, but video security footage disputes this.
