The trial of Dani Alves is open.
The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain player, accused of rape by a young woman during an evening in a nightclub on December 30, 2022, had until 10 a.m. this morning to acknowledge the facts, find an agreement with the complainant and hope to lessen her sentence.
Ultimately it won't be the case.
While the prosecution had proposed the payment of a sum higher than the 150,000 requested by the investigating judge, the complainant refused this agreement.
The trial therefore began.
Imprisoned for more than a year, the Brazilian arrived shortly before 10 a.m. aboard a vehicle from the Mossos d'Esquadra, the autonomous police force of Catalonia.
His mother and other relatives also came to the Barcelona Court to support the former footballer.
He must give his version of the facts this Monday, but his lawyers could request a postponement of this hearing.
The prosecution demands nine years in prison
As a reminder, the facts date back to the night of December 30 to 31, 2022. According to the indictment, Dani Alves, 40, was on the evening of the facts in this nightclub with a friend.
After offering champagne to the complainant, her cousin and a friend, he allegedly invited her to accompany him to an exclusive area of the nightclub with toilets, which she did not know.
The player, who was then on vacation in Barcelona after participating in the World Cup in Qatar with Brazil, would have had a “violent attitude” towards the young woman, whom he would have forced to have sexual relations, again according to the prosecution.
Also read: Dani Alves tried for rape: story of an eventful year behind bars
Since the start of the case, Dani Alves has changed his version several times, going so far as to say in a video at the beginning of January that he had never met the complainant.
He then justified himself by asserting that he did not want to jeopardize his marriage, before eventually admitting that he had had a sexual relationship with the young woman, but that it was consensual.
Spanish justice has repeatedly refused his release pending trial, highlighting a “high risk of flight” for the player to Brazil, a country which generally does not extradite its nationals.
The prosecution - which requires before the trial in Spain - is demanding nine years in prison against him, as well as the payment of 150,000 euros to the young woman and 10 years of supervised release at the end of her incarceration.