The Barcelona Prosecutor’s Office has sought a nine-year prison term for the former FC Barcelona player Daniel Alves on charges of sexual assault by penetration, alleged to have occurred on the night of December 30 to 31, 2022, at Sutton nightclub in central Barcelona. The public accusation also calls for 150,000 euros in compensation to the victim, a sum that the court has noted and that Alves has acknowledged in court, subject to a ten-year probation period. The document indicates that the affected party seeks this amount. The Barcelona Court confirmed the prison sentence initially handed down by the case’s investigating judge on January 20. After the prosecution presents its case, the next steps involve the special investigation conducted by lawyer Ester Garcia on behalf of the victim, followed by the defense presentation from Alves’ side.
Alves offered a sequence of statements during the inquiry. He first asserted that he did not know the victim, then asserted that he had met the young woman in the nightclub’s bathroom, and when confronted with biological evidence, he claimed that the woman herself had engaged in oral sex. The footballer later testified again at his own request, admitting that he had sexual relations with the victim with her consent and that certain statements had been made to hide infidelity to his spouse.
In private bathroom
After Brazil’s exit from the World Cup in Qatar, Alves traveled to Spain to spend time with his wife, Joana Sanz, before potentially joining Mexico’s Club Universidad Nacional, commonly known as the Pumas. While the legal process unfolded, the athlete stayed in the Canary Islands and his wife supported his mother, who was in a nursing home. On December 30, Alves flew to Barcelona and arranged to meet a friend for dinner. They made plans for a meal at a restaurant in the Eixample district before moving on to Sutton nightclub on Tuset Street. The two men sat in a VIP area with access to a private suite and a small bathroom near the entrance. Alves danced with the victim and two friends for several minutes.
The indictment describes observable indications that Alves danced with the victim and, on two occasions, guided her hand toward his genitals. The victim reportedly withdrew in both instances. The sheriff’s order notes that Alves then called out to the woman from the door leading to the small bathroom and pulled her toward it, despite her requests to stop. The judge considered the events to have a coercive context, with the accused pressing for private proximity despite the victim’s discomfort.
According to the judge, Alves allegedly ignored the victim’s protests, pulled her dress downward, and positioned her head against him, causing a head injury as part of the attempt to carry the encounter into a private space. The order states that he sought to have sexual relations in the private area, including attempts to perform oral sex, but those efforts reportedly did not succeed. The document notes that Alves appeared upset in the aftermath, with the actions described as part of a broader sequence that culminated in violent behavior, including slaps, back-pressing, and the pressing of his body against hers, followed by a further attempt at penetrative sex.