Ex-Barcelona player Dani Alves sentenced to prison for sexual assault - ESPN

Catalonia's top court on Thursday found former Brazil footballer Dani Alves guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in a Barcelona nightclub in 2022, sentencing him to 4½ years in prison.

The court also ordered that Alves pay €150,000 ($162,990) to the victim.

«The sentence considers that it has been proven that the victim did not consent, and that there is evidence, in addition to the testimony of the plaintiff, to consider the rape proven,» the court said in a statement.

Alves had maintained the sex was consensual, and his lawyers told reporters outside the courthouse that he intends to appeal the sentence, which also includes a five-year probation upon release and a 9½-year restraining order.

The prosecutor had been seeking a nine-year prison term.

«We are satisfied as the sentence recognises what we've been saying all along: that the victim was telling the truth and that she suffered,» the victim's lawyer David Saenz told reporters, adding that his team would analyse whether the sentence corresponds to the gravity of the crime.

Alves' lawyer, Ines Guardiola, disagreed with the sentencing, saying: «We are going to appeal. I still believe in Dani Alves' innocence. We haven't read the whole sentence yet because it's very long, but we are going to study it in detail now. We defend [Alves'] innocence.»

Alves, 40, was arrested in January 2023 after being accused of sexually assaulting a woman in the bathroom of an upscale Barcelona nightclub in the early hours of Dec. 31, 2022.

Alves had remained in preventive pre-trial prison in Spain ever since, with a judge turning down regular requests for bail and deeming him a flight risk.

The case was heard over three days at a court in Barcelona earlier this month, with Alves