The Supreme Court of Catalonia in Spain overturned the rape conviction of Brazilian footballer Dani Alves on Friday.
The 41-year-old right-back was convicted last year of raping a woman in the bathroom of a Barcelona nightclub in 2022 and sentenced to four and a half years in prison.
In its appeal ruling, the Catalan Supreme Court said the plaintiff’s testimony lacked credibility regarding facts that could be objectively verified through video evidence, “which clearly indicates that what she recounted does not correspond to reality.”
“Dani Alves is very happy,” Ines Guardiola, the lawyer for the former Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, and Juventus player, told RAC1 radio. “He is innocent, it has been proven. The judiciary has spoken.”
Alves had already been released from prison on €1 million ($1.1 million) bail pending appeal.
Alves is now free to leave the country after the Catalan court lifted all restrictions, including the travel ban and restraining order, and ordered him to pay compensation.
