Dani Alves wins appeal over rape conviction

Former Brazil and Barcelona right-back, Dani Alves, has won his appeal against a sexual assault conviction as a Spanish court overturned the ruling.

Alves was found guilty of assaulting a woman in a Barcelona nightclub on New Year’s Eve in 2022.

The Brazilian was arrested in January 2023, spent 14 months in custody and was later sentenced in February 2024 to four and half years in prison.

However, the former Sevilla man maintained his innocence since handing himself over to the police. He was later released on bail in March 2024 while waiting for his appeal to be heard by a higher court.

The Supreme Court in Catalonia has now acquitted Dani Alves of rape, as there was “insufficient evidence” to rule out Alves’ presumption of innocence.