Brazil defender Dani Alves detained over sexual assault allegations

Spanish public prosecutors requested Friday that Brazil defender Dani Alves be held in custody after he was arrested in Barcelona over allegations he sexually assaulted a woman.

The 39-year-old player was "taken into custody" after being summoned to a Barcelona police station. He will now be questioned by a judge, said a spokesperson for Catalonia's police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra.

Public prosecutors have asked that Alves be held in "provisional detention without bail," a source at the public prosecutor's office said. A judge still must agree to the request.

READ | Wallabies star Beale suspended by Rugby Australia after sexual assault charge

Catalan police said they received a complaint on January 2 from a woman who said Alves had touched her inappropriately.

The alleged sexual assault took place at a popular Barcelona nightclub overnight December 30-31, according to Spanish media reports.

Daily newspaper ABC said Alves allegedly put his hands inside the underwear of a woman without her consent while she was dancing with friends and then followed her into a toilet.

She is said to have informed security staff in the club, who activated Barcelona city council's protocol against assaults and sexual harassment.

The player has confirmed he was at the nightclub at the time but has denied any wrongdoing, telling private Spanish television station Antena 3 earlier this month that he has "never seen" the woman before.

"I was there, at that place, with more people having fun. Everybody knows I love to dance. Having a good time but without invading the space of others," the former Barcelona, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain player added.

His wife Joana Sanz told Antena 3 in an interview on January 9 that her husband had gone "out to