Simon Hunter
FORMER Barcelona FC player Dani Alves has given three different versions of the events that took place in a nightclub on December 30 of last year, when he is alleged to have raped a 23-year-old woman.
The Brazilian international, 39, is currently being held in custody in Catalunya, while police continue with their investigations.
He was jailed on Friday after the investigating judge in the case heard statements and was presented with evidence so far gathered by the Mossos d’Esquadra regional police force.
The images from inside the nightclub contradict the version of events offered by Alves. The player sent a video to a magazine TV show on Spanish channel Antena 3 several weeks ago, in which he told his apparent side of the story.
In the message, he admitted being in the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona on the night of December 30. ‘Sorry, but I don’t know who this woman is,’ he said of his alleged victim. ‘I don’t know her name, I don’t know her, nor have I ever seen her in my life.’
According to his version, he opened the door of the bathroom in the VIP area of the nightclub to accidentally find the victim inside.
However, sources told newspaper El Periodico that the security camera footage shows that he was inside the bathroom for around 15 minutes, which contradicts his original statement.
This prompted Alves to change his story when questioned by the investigating judge, public prosecutor and the private prosecution. He claimed instead that what happened between the two in the bathroom was consensual.
But neither the recordings nor the witness statements so far compiled back Alves’s several versions of the story.
In the meantime, the victim has renounced any financial compensation for the incident and has said that she is seeking only for justice to be done and for Alves to be jailed.
According to her version of events, a waiter invited her and two friends to sit at Alves’s table in the Sutton nightclub. She claims that he insisted she follow him into the bathroom, where she alleges she assaulted and raped her.
Read more:
- Ex-Barcelona star Dani Alves jailed after arrest in Spain over alleged nightclub sex assault
- Soccer star Dani Alves quizzed over Barcelona nightclub sex assault in Spain
