Former Brazilian footballer Dani Alves has had his rape conviction overturned by a top court in Catalonia, Spain. The court found that the initial ruling contained "inconsistencies and contradictions," leading to the decision to quash the conviction.
Alves, who played for Barcelona, was sentenced to four years and six months in prison after being found guilty of sexual assault in February 2023. He denied the charges throughout the three-day trial, where it was alleged that he raped a woman in a bathroom at a Barcelona nightclub on New Year’s Eve in 2022.
The appeal court stated there was "insufficient evidence" to uphold the conviction, emphasizing that the victim’s testimony differed significantly from video footage captured before the incident. This lack of consistency raised doubts about the evidence against Alves.
In March 2023, Alves was released on bail after paying €1 million, as prosecutors had labeled him a flight risk. He had been in jail from January until his release, and now that the appeal has been successful, all travel restrictions on him have been lifted.
While this ruling is a significant development for Alves, it remains possible for the case to be appealed to Spain’s Supreme Court. The Alves trial was notable as it was one of the first high-profile cases following Spain’s 2022 legal reforms, which made consent a central element in defining sexual crimes. These changes were in response to public outcry after a gang rape case in 2016, reinforcing that consent must be clear and explicit.