"Rich people have a lot of power" - Amateur footballers on Dani Alves' quashed rape conviction

Record ID: 1986466

  • Title: "Rich people have a lot of power" - Amateur footballers on Dani Alves' quashed rape conviction
  • Date: 28th March 2025
  • Summary: BARCELONA, SPAIN (MARCH 28, 2025) (REUTERS) 'CLUB ESPORTIU EUROPA' WOMEN'S TEAM GATHERED BEFORE TRAINING, COACH GIVING INSTRUCTIONS VARIOUS OF TRAINING MATCH IN PROGRESS PLAYERS PASSING BALL AND RUNNING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CLUB ESPORTIU EUROPA PLAYER ANNA BOVE SAYING: "I think that at the end (this ruling) is representative of how justice works these days. It's a negativ
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Barcelona Dani Alves Spain court rape victim
  • Location: BARCELONA, SPAIN
  • City: BARCELONA, SPAIN
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Europe
  • Reuters ID: LVA001257728032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Amateur footballers in Barcelona disagreed on Friday (March 28) with the decision taken by Catalonia's top court to overturn the conviction of former Brazilian soccer player Dani Alves for sexual assault after an appeal.
    Women players at the 'Club Esportiu Europa' criticised the Spanish justice system, claiming rich people have the power to evade punishment.
    The 41-year-old ex right-back was convicted last year of raping a woman in the restroom of a Barcelona nightclub in 2022 and sentenced to 4-1/2 years in prison.
    The case has gripped Spain where women's rights have become a highly sensitive national topic, especially in the sports world after the scandal over former soccer chief Luis Rubiales' unwanted kissing of national team player Jenni Hermoso in 2023.
    In its unanimous appeal ruling, the four-judge Catalan high court said the accuser's testimony lacked reliability over facts that could be objectively verified through video, "explicitly indicating that what she recounted does not correspond to reality."
    Alves had already been released from prison on a 1 million euro ($1.1 million) bail while awaiting the appeal.
    Now he is free to leave Spain after the court overturned a travel ban, restraining order and compensation payment.
    The court said that the alleged victim's argument that she went with Alves into the restroom for fear that his friends might follow them did not appear reasonable, concluding that she instead "voluntarily went to the bathroom area for the purpose of being with the defendant in a more intimate space."
    (Production: Bruna Casas, Miguel Gutierrez)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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