Dani Alves denies the rape and says that the complainant performed fellatio on him: "She didn't tell me she wanted to stop"

Cristina Rubio Barcelona

Barcelona

Updated Wednesday, February 7, 2024-20:01

"I'm not a violent man, we were enjoying it." This is how Dani Alves appeared before the court accused of sexual assault of a 23-year-old girl on the night of December 30 to 31, 2022 at the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona.

The former footballer has denied the rape, has said that at no time did the young woman ask him to leave the bathroom, has even simulated his position at the time of allegedly fellating her and has said that the relationships were consensual at all times. "I am not that type of man," he assured after answering only the questions of his lawyer, Inés Guardiola.

The Brazilian has also justified his changes in versions regarding what happened during the investigation phase: he has assured that in his second statement he said the same thing as this Wednesday, and that in the first he admitted that he had had oral sex with the complainant because he hoped that his wife "could forgive him."

The case dates back to the night of Friday, December 30, 2022. Alves was on vacation in Barcelona before rejoining the Pumas of Mexico and after having played in the World Cup. After 2:30 in the morning, he went to the nightclub's booth with a friend and occupied table 6, the only one that gives exclusive access to the so-called Suite, an area with a small toilet, a living room with a sofa, a television and a refrigerator. There, in the booth, they met the young woman and two other girls.

After inviting them to drink for an hour, the former full-back of the Brazilian team would have insisted that the young woman enter the exclusive area where the small toilet was, which she did not know about. In that bathroom, according to the Prosecutor's Office, Alves would have shown a "violent attitude" towards the woman, whom he attacked and forced to have sexual relations, despite her resistance.

"He penetrated her vaginally until he ejaculated, without using a condom and without her consent," says the Public Ministry. "The victim repeatedly requested that he let her go, that she wanted to get out of there, and the defendant did not allow it," indicates the document, which states that lived a "situation of anguish and terror."