Prosecutors seek jail term for ex-Brazil star Alves over rape charge

Spanish prosecutors are seeking a nine-year jail term for former Brazil star Dani Alves who is accused of raping a young woman at a Barcelona nightclub in December 2022. (AP/File)
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Updated 23 November 2023
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Prosecutors seek jail term for ex-Brazil star Alves over rape charge

  • Prosecutors have also demanded the former Barcelona and PSG full-back pay his alleged victim $163,500 in compensation
  • A date for his trial had not yet been set

BARCELONA: Spanish prosecutors are seeking a nine-year jail term for former Brazil star Dani Alves who is accused of raping a young woman at a Barcelona nightclub in December 2022.
Prosecutors have also demanded the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain full-back, who has been in jail in Spain since his arrest in January, pay his alleged victim 150,000 euros ($163,500) in compensation, according to a copy of his indictment seen by AFP on Thursday.
A date for his trial had not yet been set. The 40-year-old has maintained that he had consensual sex with his accuser.
“I have a really clear conscience regarding what happened that night in the bathroom of the VIP area of the Sutton nightclub,” he told Barcelona-based newspaper La Vanguardia in an interview published in June, his first since his arrest.
“What happened and what didn’t happen. And what didn’t happen is that I forced this woman to do anything that we did,” he added.
But when the story first broke — and before he was arrested — Alves in a television interview initially denied knowing the woman who filed a police complaint against him on January 2.
The player told La Vanguardia that he had lied at first because he was afraid his wife would leave him if he admitted he had been with another woman.
The indictment offers a detailed description of what according to prosecutors happened at the upscale Sutton nightclub.
After meeting at the venue, Alves invited the woman to enter a small enclosure which she says she did not know was a toilet.
Once inside, the footballers showed a “violent attitude” toward the woman, who he forced to have intercourse despite her resistance.
At the time of the incident, Alves was on holiday in Barcelona after playing for Brazil at the World Cup in Qatar.
After his arrest, Alves was sacked by his Mexican club Pumas UNAM.
In a highly successful career, Alves won 42 trophies, including three Champions Leagues with Barcelona and two Copa Americas with Brazil.


Morocco achieve record FIFA ranking, Senegal rise to 12th

Updated 20 January 2026
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Morocco achieve record FIFA ranking, Senegal rise to 12th

  • Morocco moved up three spots in the January ranking to eighth
  • The 2022 World Cup semifinalists’ previous best was 10th in April 1998

RABAT: Morocco have achieved their highest FIFA men’s world ranking, rising to eighth, despite losing the Africa Cup of Nations final to Senegal, who climbed to 12th on Monday.
Morocco were beaten 1-0 after extra time by Senegal in the decider in Rabat on Sunday, but the hosts had a chance to win the trophy with a last-gasp penalty at the end of regulation time.
However, Brahim Diaz squandered the kick after having to wait some 14 minutes for the Senegal players to return, as they walked off the ⁠field to protest the penalty decision.
Morocco moved up three spots in the January ranking to eighth. The 2022 World Cup semifinalists’ previous best was 10th in April 1998.
The highest ranking achieved by an African team was Nigeria’s fifth in April 1994, while Egypt posted the best ranking among Arab nations when ⁠they reached ninth in July 2010.
Champions Senegal, who emerged victorious for a second time in the last three editions, moved up seven spots to reach their highest-ever ranking. Their previous best was 17th, achieved in 2024.
The AFCON results have had a huge impact on the ranking of African teams, as several positions have shifted.
Bronze medallists Nigeria (26th) were the team that gained the most points, collecting 79.09 points to move up 12 spots, the same as Cameroon (45th), making them ⁠the biggest climbers.
Egypt, who reached the semifinals of the Africa Cup of Nations, climbed four places to 31st, three spots behind Algeria.
Gabon, who were eliminated in the group stage, lost 44.97 points to become the team that lost the most points, dropping to 86th. Equatorial Guinea, meanwhile, suffered the biggest fall, sliding 10 spots to 107th.
European champions Spain kept top spot, ahead of World Cup holders Argentina. France are third, followed by England, Brazil, Portugal and the Netherlands, with no change in the ranking of the top seven teams.