Spanish prosecutors want to increase Dani Alves’ sentence to four and a half years

Spanish prosecutors are appealing the four-and-a-half-year prison sentence against Brazilian footballer Dani Alves for raping a young girl in Barcelona in 2022, seeking to increase the sentence.

Judicial sources told EFE that the prosecutor’s office is preparing to appeal the decision, known last week, with the court considering compensation to the victim of 150,000 euros, set at the amount of bail, as a mitigating circumstance.

That mitigation, namely damages, allowed the hearing in Barcelona to reduce the sentence to four and a half years – the minimum required by law for sexual assault – and when prosecutors asked for a nine-year prison sentence for the player.

At the trial, the prosecutor’s office and the girl’s defense opposed the use of the mitigating factor of compensation for damages, citing the amount that the investigating judge set as bail for the player, who several times wanted this exact amount to be transferred to the victim without her consent.

The prosecutor’s office also understands that the application of a mitigating circumstance to Dani Alves for posting bail of 150,000 euros may be discriminatory, since it gives the accused an advantage due to his economic capabilities.

In addition to the prosecutor’s office, the young woman’s defense also plans to appeal the verdict, and representatives of Dani Alves are doing the same, claiming that the player had consensual sexual relations.

According to the trial, Alves was in a nightclub in Barcelona and met the victim along with other people, asked her to dance, and then took her to the bathroom, where he forced her to engage in sexual intercourse.

Dani Alves is one of the most titled football players in the history of sports. He won 23 trophies for Barca alone between 2008 and 2016 and was playing for Pumas in Mexico when he was arrested, which led to the club immediately sacking him.