Dani Alves: Ex-Barcelona star acquitted of sexual assault as prison sentence is overturned

The Brazilian, who spent a decade at the La Liga giants over two stints in his career, was widely regarded as one of the best right-backs in world football in his playing days. He retired in 2023 having won just about every possible trophy under the sun.

Alves had been sentenced to four and a half years in prison after being found guilty of assaulting a woman at a nightclub on December 31, 2022. He was released on bail in March 2024 while his appeal was heard, and today (March 28) it was announced that the Appeals Division of Catalonia’s High Court of Justice had unanimously upheld his appeal and acquitted him.

The appeal court said in its judgement that the ruling in the original court case “contains, throughout the reasoning, a series of gaps, inaccuracies, inconsistencies and contradictions regarding the facts, the legal assessment and their consequences”.

“The lower court’s judgment presents very significant appraisal deficiencies and has not exercised extreme caution in comparing the contents of the evidence,” a release setting out the appeal court’s judgement said. “The complainant’s account, which should have been subjected to greater scrutiny, has not been compared with the fingerprint and biological evidence, which support the defence’s argument.

“These are neutral and scientific contrasting evidence. As we stated at the beginning, what is stated in the judgment must be able to be reviewed and verified in the second instance.

“The evidentiary inadequacies that have been expressed lead to the conclusion that the standard required by the presumption of innocence has not been met, which must have its effects leading to the revocation of the first-instance judgement and the issuance of an acquittal, reversing the precautionary measures adopted.”

During his career, Alves played 261 games for Barcelona, scoring 15 goals in the process. He also played for the likes of Sevilla, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain.

Alves won La Liga six times and the Champions League on three occasions, all with Barcelona. He also won the league in both Serie A and Ligue 1, as well as being named in UEFA’s Team of the Year on five occasions.

For Brazil, he played 126 times, winning both the Copa America and Confederations Cup twice - as well as taking home a gold medal from the 2020 Olympic Games.