Tribal Football

Dani Alves: Former Barcelona star's rape conviction overturned

Shina Oludare
Dani Alves rape conviction overturned
Dani Alves rape conviction overturnedAlejandro Garcia / EPA / Profimedia
Dani Alves has had his rape conviction overturned due to "contradictions" in the case against him.

The former Barcelona and Brazil star was sentenced to four and a half years in prison in February 2024 after being found guilty of raping a woman at a Spanish nightclub in December 2022.

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However, the appeals division of Catalonia's High Court of Justice upheld Alves' appeal and acquitted him, citing "inconsistencies and contradictions" in the case against him.

The Alves trial was the first high-profile case since Spain overhauled its laws in 2022 to make consent central to defining a sex crime, following widespread protests after a gang-rape case during the 2016 San Fermin bull-running festival in Pamplona.