Alex Trelinski
A BARCELONA court has decided to indict Brazilian football star Dani Alves following a probe into sexual assault accusations against him.
The judge’s investigation found evidence of criminality by Alves, 40, who has been in jail since January following his alleged assault on a woman at a Barcelona nightclub on December 30.
He will be formally indicted after being informed of the judge’s decision in court on Wednesday.
Prosecutors will then list the charges, and a trial date will be set for later this year or 2024.
The ex-FC Barcelona defender has said that any sex with his accuser was consensual and that he did nothing wrong.
Alves is expected to remain in custody ahead of the trial with bail requests turned down because prosecutors claim he is a flight risk despite offering to surrender his passport and to wear an ankle tracker.
A judge ordered Alves to be jailed after analysing the initial probe by authorities and hearing testimony from the alleged victim, witnesses, and the player.
Alves’ lawyers unsuccessfully tried to discredit testimony by the alleged victim and other witnesses by producing camera footage showing that Alves and the victim were flirting with each other at the Barcelona nightclub.
The court had said that the flirting should not ‘in any way justify an eventual sexual assault’.
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