THE TRIAL of former Barcelona footballer Dani Alves on sex assault charges will begin on February 5.
Alves is accused of assaulting a 23-year-old woman in Barcelona’s Sutton nightclub in December 2022.
The ex-Brazilian international has been allocated three days for his hearing.
Alves, 40, has denied any wrongdoing, claiming he had consensual sex with the accuser.
He was indicted by a Barcelona investigating judge in August and the court ruled in November that there was enough evidence to open a trial.
The Prosecutor’s Office and a simultaneous private prosecution will ask for eight years in prison for Alves.
He has been in pre-trial detention since January 20 and, since then, his lawyer has had numerous requests for bail turned down since he was regarded as a flight risk.
On the last occasion the court ruled on the submission in June, the judge concluded that none of the fresh attempts by Alves’s lawyer like a new statement, security camera analysis, and the registration of his children were enough for him to be released.
In fact, according to the order that kept him in prison, the evidence collected by the Mossos d’Esquadra- especially the fingerprints found in the toilets in the VIP area of the Sutton nightclub- ‘not only do not distort, but confirm’ the victim’s account.
Alves won 42 titles during his illustrious football career, including three Champions Leagues with Barcelona and two Copa Americas with Brazil.
He played at his third World Cup last year in Qatar.
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