Former Barcelona star Dani Alves is due to go on trial this morning in Spain for allegedly raping a 23-year-old woman in Barcelona nightclub as he faces a 12-year prison sentence.
The Brazil international, 40, will be driven to court in a police van from Brian 2 Prison near the Catalan capital, where he has been held on remand for over a year.
State prosecutors have said they wanted him jailed for nine years if convicted of raping a 23-year-old woman in a toilet at Barcelona’s upmarket Sutton nightclub on December 30, 2022.
A lawyer acting for Alves’ female accuser, who is prosecuting the father-of-two on her behalf, has called for him to face the maximum 12-year prison sentence if he is found guilty.
Both prosecutors are also seeking a compensation payment of €150,000 (£128,000).
The former Barcelona defender has denied wrongdoing but admitted to having cheated on his wife with his accuser, insisting sex was consensual.
Failing an eleventh-hour plea bargain deal, the trial will start at 10am local time (9am GMT) at Barcelona’s Audiencia Provincial Court and is scheduled to last for three days.
The three judges, who are sitting without a jury will return their verdict once the trial ends and will announce their decision in a written ruling.
Alves, who can opt to take the stand on the last day, has insisted he had consensual sex with the woman who has accused him of forcing himself on her.
After seeing bail refused last June, Alves told Cuatro programme ‘En Boca de todos’: ‘It will be proven that I am not guilty and it was a consensual relationship.
‘It would never cross my mind to impose a sexual act on anyone.’
His accuser has been given permission to testify behind closed doors.
Her cousin and a female friend who were with her the night of the alleged sex attack are among the witnesses called to give evidence along with waiters in the VIP area of Sutton’s where Alves met the woman whose accusations ended with his arrest and incarceration ahead of today’s trial.
Alves’ wife Joana Sanz will testify on behalf of the footballer following his pre-trial public apology to the model for ‘cheating on her’ with the woman who claims he raped her.
The footballer was ordered to stand trial last November.
Initially, it was reported Alves had been accused of putting his hands down a woman’s underwear inside a toilet in the VIP area of Sutton nightclub before it emerged his alleged victim was saying she had been raped.
He was sacked by Mexican side UNAM Pumas following his arrest in Barcelona at the start of last year after he flew back to the Catalan capital to attend his mother-in-law’s funeral.
