Dani Alves In Police Custody Over Alleged Sexual Assault

Brazil International and former FC Barcelona defender, Dani Alves has been arrested in Spain over allegations of sexually assaulting a woman at a Barcelona nightclub in December 2022.

Reports indicated that the 39-year-old player was summoned to a Barcelona police station where he was “taken into custody” and will now be questioned by a judge.

A spokesperson for Catalonia’s regional police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, said they received a complaint on January 2 from a woman who said Alves had touched her inappropriately, police said.

The alleged sexual assault took place at a popular Barcelona nightclub overnight December 30-31, according to Spanish media reports which said Alves was accused of putting his hands down the woman’s pants.

The Brazilian international confirmed he was at the nightclub at the time but has denied any wrongdoing, telling private Spanish television Antena 3 earlier this month that he has “never seen” the woman before.

“I was there, at that place, with more people having fun. Everybody knows I love to dance. Having a good time but without invading the space of others”, the former Barcelona and Juventus player said.

Alves, who now plies his trade for the Mexican side, Pumas UNAM, was in Barcelona on holiday following his participation in the World Cup with Brazil in Qatar.

Earlier this month, a Barcelona court said it had opened an inquest “into an alleged crime of sexual assault as a result of a complaint filed by a woman against a footballer”.

Born on 6 May 1983 as Daniel Alves da Silva, he is widely considered one of the greatest full-backs of all time and parades the honour of being the most decorated player in the history of football with 46 titles at the senior level and 47 official titles overall – AFP