Dani Alves to make new court statement after arrest over alleged sexual assault
Jailed footballer Dani Alves will appear in court again next week after requesting permission to make a new statement about an alleged nightclub sex assault.
The 39-year-old will leave the prison near Barcelona where he has been held for nearly three months next Monday for the behind-closed-doors hearing. The Brazil international is understood to have asked for approval to give his version of events of the incident in a toilet in the VIP area of iconic nightclub Sutton, with some unconfirmed local reports saying he wants to modify what he has already said happened.
The former Barcelona defender has already offered different explanations of what occurred at the nightspot late last December.
He initially said he had never met his 23-year-old female accuser but ending up claiming sex was consensual after a change of lawyer and insisting he had not told the truth to start with because he didn’t want to admit he had been unfaithful to model wife Joana Sanz.
Dani Alves played for Brazil at the World Cup in December (Getty Images)Tenerife-born Joana appeared to call time on their eight-year relationship last month with a letter she posted on her Instagram 48 hours after she visited Alves in prison, writing: “I think it's going to take me years to erase from my memory his way of looking at me, that way he had of looking at me as if I were the most incredible thing in the world and damn, yes, I'm incredible.”
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She added: “Despite the damage he has caused me, I am still here by his side. I continue and will continue to be, but in another way.”
Alves, arrested in Barcelona on January 20 after he flew back to the Catalan capital to attend his mother-in-law’s funeral, replied with his own letter leaked to a Spanish TV station.
The letter, addressed to ‘My Dear Joana’ and written in Spanish, said: “In these difficult moments, I regret your decision and I hope that life gives us another chance to love you again.
“I understand the pain the unjust situation we are experiencing is causing and I understand that you have not been able to withstand all that pressure.
“The facts of which I am accused are foreign to me and to the values that have guided my life: love, respect and effort.
“I will continue fighting as I have always done, believing in myself with the support and confidence of those who know who I really am.”
Dani Alves and Joana Sanz in October 2021 (JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)Alves’ new court appearance is not expected to affect his continued incarceration ahead of his trial. He was remanded in custody after his January arrest and his attempt the following month to gain bail was rejected by judges.
The judges said they felt there was a high risk Alves would flee Spain and return to his native Brazil if released and also referred in their ruling to the “strong indications of criminality that exist against him.”
Formal charges are expected to be laid in the next few months and a trial date scheduled after that.
Court officials have confirmed Alves is under investigation on suspicion of sexually assaulting a woman, but have not confirmed the exact nature of the allegations against him.
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His ex-wife Dinorah Santana, the mother of his two children, has repeatedly said she is standing by him.
Pretty brunette Joana met Alves through friends and they married in Formentera off Ibiza in 2017. She showed her support for the footballer last December in Qatar when he became the oldest player to represent Brazil at the World Cup.
The stunning Spaniard shared a selfie in the stands at the Lusail Stadium in a Dani Alves Brazil shirt bearing his number and name. She also shared a screen grab with some of the saucy WhatsApp messages the right-back had exchanged with her during the tournament.
As well as two spells at Barcelona, Alves has played for Sevilla, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Sao Paulo. His widely considered as one of the greatest full-backs of all time.
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