Dani Alves' wife asks for divorce after his arrest over alleged sexual assault

Dani Alves’ model wife is reportedly asking him for a divorce following his arrest and incarceration over an alleged nightclub sex assault.

Joana Sanz removed most of the photos of her with the footballer from her Instagram last week after it emerged he was claiming he had consensual sex with his female accuser after initially denying he knew her.

On Tuesday, a Spanish TV programme claimed Alves’ wife of nearly five years had communicated her divorce demand to her lawyers after her husband refused to see her in the prison near Barcelona where he is being held on remand.

The 29-year-old Tenerife-born model has yet to make any official comment following the divorce bombshell on respected Telecinco show El Programme de Ana Rosa on Tuesday morning.

Sanz's decision to erase most of her photos with 39-year-old Alves, except a couple linked to advertising campaigns, turned heads in Spain and abroad after her initial show of support for the Brazilian international.

Following the footballer’s January 20th arrest in Barcelona the brunette, who the footballer had accompanied to Spain from Mexico following her mother's death, said she had lost the “two pillars in my life".

Hours before Alves was remanded in custody and before reports he was now admitting to sex with his female accuser but claiming it was consensual started surfacing, she posted a photo of them holding hands with the message ‘Together’ in English.

Her apparent change in attitude coincided with comments made by his new lawyer Cristobal Martell last week saying the footballer had changed his version of events about what happened at iconic Barcelona nightclub Sutton late last month to cover up his “infidelity".

It also came after she was subjected to cruel online abuse