Neymar's father says family won't bail Dani Alves out - ESPN

The father of Brazil star Neymar said Thursday that his family won't pay the €1 million ($1.1 million) required to bail Dani Alves out of a Spanish prison where the former Brazil defender awaits the result of an appeal to his rape conviction.

Neymar da Silva Santos said in a statement on behalf of his family that they financially supported Alves during his trial, but that they won't do it again now that the former player was found guilty of raping a woman in a Barcelona nightclub in 2022.

«For us, for my family, this matter is over. Full stop,» Neymar da Silva Santos said.

The 40-year-old Alves was sentenced to four years, six months in prison. He is being held at a jail outside Barcelona.

Neymar's father didn't specify how much they gave Alves but added it's a «different situation» now because the three-judge panel at the Barcelona Provincial Court ruled against Alves.

«With the Spanish court ruling for his conviction, there's speculation and an attempt to associate my name and my son's to a matter that is not within our reach any longer,» Neymar's father said in the family's statement.

He added that he hopes Alves «can find all the answers he looks for in his own family.»

The prison term is near the lowest sentence for a rape conviction, which when the rape took place was penalized by four to 12 years under Spanish law. The court in its sentence said it considered favorably for Alves that he had «before the trial paid the court €150,000 to be given to the victim without any conditions attached.»

Neymar and Alves were teammates at Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and for Brazil. Neymar now plays for Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia.

Alves, who has denied wrongdoing in the case, has remained in custody since being arrested in