Daniel Alves’ defense is considered ‘fragile’ – 02/08/2024 – Sport

European newspapers reported this Thursday (8) the last day of the trial of player Daniel Alves, in Barcelona. The athlete is accused by a young woman of rape in the bathroom of a nightclub in the Catalan capital, on the night of December 30, 2022. According to the French press, “there is little chance” that the Brazilian will not be convicted.

“Dani Alves’ fragile defense” is the title of an article in the French newspaper Le Parisien, which highlights the player’s testimony on Wednesday (7). In his version of events, the Brazilian “tried to explain that he did not force the victim to have sexual intercourse.”

Le Parisien, which sent a reporter to Barcelona to follow the trial, reports that Daniel Alves cried during the testimony and heard “terrible arguments” from the defense of the young woman accusing him, “without being shaken”, describes the article. The newspaper also highlights Alves’ claim, guaranteeing that he is not “a violent man” and that he did not force the young woman to do anything. “If she wanted to leave, she could have left at any time,” said the Brazilian.

The sports newspaper L’Equipe highlights that the player has changed his version four times since he was accused. His statement reinforced the statements of the friend he was with at the Sutton nightclub and his wife, Joana Sanz. At the Barcelona Court, his friend Bruno stated that the former Barcelona and PSG full-back had consumed a large amount of alcohol, and his wife assured that he arrived home “smelling of alcohol”, even bumping into furniture.

“Was Alves so drunk that he no longer remembers the details of his relationship with the alleged victim?”, asks L’Equipe. The diary publishes that for 20 minutes the Brazilian described the early hours of the 30th to the 31st of December 2022, guaranteeing that everything that happened was consensual, under a “sexual excitement” that occurred after the alleged victim “rubbed against him” in the VIP area of ​​the nightclub.

‘Anguish and terror’

“Dani Alves denies rape at the end of the trial in Spain”, states the British daily The Guardian. The newspaper states that the athlete confronted the accusations made by the young woman’s lawyer, who argues that she was forced to have sex with the Brazilian in a bathroom at the nightclub, after “repeatedly” asking him to let her out. “Anguish and terror” were the words used by the defense to describe the alleged victim’s feelings that night, says The Guardian.

There was also strong repercussion in the press in Spain, where Alves played for several years, at Barcelona and Sevilla. “We were taking advantage” is the title of the article in the newspaper La Vanguardia, reproducing one of the player’s allegations. The daily El País also opens its report on the testimony with another statement from the Brazilian: “At no point did she ask me to stop.”

Pulled by the handcuffs

At the end of the last day of the trial, Alves left the court as he arrived, says L’Equipe: “a police officer pulling him by the handcuffs, with his gait almost staggering, his face closed and his gaze distant, without saying a word to the journalists present in the courtroom.” hall of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia”.

“The 40-year-old Brazilian is back to sleeping in prison, his daily routine for over a year”, reiterates the sports daily for whom there is “little chance” that Alves will be cleared.

The prosecutor is asking for nine years in prison for the player, in addition to a payment of €150,000 (R$802,500) and 10 years of probation after his release from prison. After three days of a trial that attracted great media attention, the court’s three magistrates began deliberating the sentence, which could take a few weeks to be announced.

L’Equipe also recalls that the Brazilian’s defense may ask that, pending the decision, the player be placed on probation. However, the prosecutor’s office already seems to rule out the possibility, fearing Daniel Alves’ escape, “since Spain does not have an extradition agreement with Brazil.”