On Thursday, a Court in Spain found Former Barcelona and Brazil football player Dani Alves guilty of raping a woman in a Barcelona nightclub.
He has been given a four and a half year prison sentence.
One of the most renowned football players in history, the 40-year-old, had denied sexually abusing the woman in the early hours of December 31, 2022. Alves has the right to appeal the sentence because his attorney had requested that he be found not guilty.
Accused of enticing the woman to use a restroom in the nightclub’s VIP area, Alves maintained that she had the option to leave “if she wanted to”.
But the court determined that she didn’t provide her consent.
The victim’s testimony was not the only piece of evidence the court stated in a statement to support the victim’s rape claim.
It further mandated that he give the victim €150,000, or £128,500.
Throughout this month’s trial, Alves has altered his evidence multiple times. He has been detained in pre-trial custody since January 2023.
After initially denying knowing his accuser, he eventually asserted that they had just crossed paths in the restroom and that nothing had transpired between them.
Then, he again altered his account, claiming that they had engaged in consenting sexual activity. “We were having a good time together,” he claimed.