Former Barcelona defender Dani Alves was indicted by a judge in a sexual assault case in Spain on Wednesday.
The 40-year-old denied any wrongdoing by telling a judge in a court in Barcelona that he was not in agreement with the findings of the investigation into allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman at a nightclub in the Catalonian capital on December 30.
The female judge informed Alves of her findings, and after his indictment, prosecutors in the case will now specify the charges against the Brazilian footballer.
The former Sevilla and Paris Saint-Germain defender was also ordered to set aside the sum of $164,000 to pay the victim if he is eventually found guilty and ordered to pay damages, with a trial date expected to be set for later this year or early in 2024.
Alves, who has been in custody since January and alleged that his interaction with the accuser was consensual, is expected to remain in jail awaiting the trial.
Despite the Brazilian offering to turn in his passports and wear a tracking device, he has had his bail request denied as he is considered a flight risk.
Alves’ lawyers argued that their client and the accuser were seen “flirting” on the security footage of the nightclub presented to the court, but the Judge refuted their claim, stating that flirting should not “in any way justify an eventual sexual assault.”
With Spain’s new sexual consent law that was passed into law in 2022, cases of sexual assault encapsulate a bigger landscape of offenses ranging from online abuse to groping and then rape, with each of the mentioned crimes carrying its own punishment. Under the new laws, a case of rape can carry a maximum sentence of 15 years.
Alves, who enjoyed most of his success with Spanish giants Barcelona, won 42 major titles, the second most in history behind former teammate Lionel Messi, including three Champions League titles with the Blaugrana and two Copa Americas with the Selecao of Brazil, whom he also represented in his third World Cup in Qatar last year.
