Brazilian defender Dani Alves is to be tried on sexual assault charges in Spain, EFE reported on Tuesday.
In an order, Section 21 of Barcelona’s high court confirmed Alves’ prosecution, concluding that the victim’s and witnesses’ statements as well as expert corroboration provide enough evidence to try him for sexual assault.
The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star was detained in January after being accused of raping a young woman in the bathroom of a nightclub in Barcelona on Dec. 30 of last year.
Alves, 40, has since been held in custody without bail in a jail in Barcelona and his requests to be freed were denied by the court because he is considered a flight risk.
When the allegations first emerged, Alves denied in a television interview that he knew the woman involved. He later said that sex with the accuser was consensual.
Alves’ contract with Liga MX club Pumas UNAM, the club he joined after leaving Barcelona in June 2022, was terminated on Jan. 20.
After Tuesday’s court order, the prosecutor’s office and prosecutors hired by the victim have five business days to present their provisional statements, in which they must argue whether Alves should be acquitted or convicted and, in this case, what penalty they consider should be applied.
After they have presented those statements a trial date will be set.