Footballer sexual assault trial set to start Monday

The trial against footballer Dani Alves, accused of sexually assaulting a young woman in a Barcelona nightclub, is scheduled to begin on Monday in the Barcelona Court.

The footballer, in provisional prison, notified and without bail for a year, faces a request for a sentence of 9 years in prison by the Prosecutor’s Office and 12 years by the private prosecution, carried out by the complainant.

Alves is accused of allegedly sexually assaulting the young woman in a bathroom at a nightclub on December 30, 2022. According to his latest account of what happened that night – he has modified his version up to five times – the Brazilian will insist before the court in which relations were consensual, ​​after a prior “flirtation.”

But he will introduce a new argument, one that he had not put forward to date. He will say that he was drunk and that he was not aware of his actions, according to some Spanish media. For the first time he introduces this mitigating issue, to try to reduce a possible sentence for sexual assault, which implies that for the first time he would be admitting a part of the crime for which he is accused.

Alves initially said that he knew the victim, then that they saw each other in the bathroom, later that they had oral sex and for the fourth time he admitted that there was sex with penetration, but consensual. Finally, he stated that he was drunk and that he was not aware of his actions.

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