The rumor had been brewing for a few hours until it went viral on social networks.
Dani Alves, convicted of rape three weeks ago, is believed to have ended his life in his prison cell on the outskirts of Barcelona.
It is not so.
The brother of the former footballer, Ney Alves, published a video on the night of Saturday to Sunday to deny these allegations.
“He has already been convicted.
Isn't that enough?
He is in prison.
Now the madness is that you want him dead.
You want to see my brother dead.
What cruelty!
My father is over 70 years old.
My mother is over 60 years old.
You don't have any family, do you?
These pages keep spreading these things.
May God have mercy on you,” the man said on his Instagram account, convinced of his brother’s innocence.
In the same hours, the former side's press secretary contacted Itatiaia radio in Belo Horizonte to deny the facts and announce legal action.
As a reminder, on February 22, the former FC Barcelona and Seleçao legend, who also played for PSG, Juventus Turin and Sevilla FC, was sent back to prison.
A court in the Catalan capital found him guilty of raping a young woman in the toilets of a nightclub.
Placed in pre-trial detention since January 2022, he was sentenced to four and a half years of incarceration and 150,000 euros in damages to the victim.
The prosecution appeals, Dani Alves too
According to the indictment, the former Brazilian international had offered champagne to the victim, her cousin and a friend and then invited her to follow him into an adjoining room with a toilet.
There, according to the public prosecutor, he would have had a “violent attitude” towards the young woman, who experienced a “situation of anxiety and terror”.
Also read: Dani Alves tried for rape: story of an eventful year behind bars
In its decision, the court swept aside the player's defense claiming that the young woman had danced “glued” to him in the nightclub and that there was “sexual tension” between them.
Alves' defense was weakened by his numerous changes of versions.
After claiming to have never met the complainant, the player justified his lie by explaining that he wanted to protect his marriage, before ending up admitting a sexual relationship, but according to him it was consensual.
Dani Alves and his advisers have promised to appeal this decision.
So did the prosecution, which had requested a nine-year prison sentence.