A Spanish court has ruled that ex-Barcelona and Brazil footballer Dani Alves can be conditionally released from jail after serving about a quarter of his sentence for rape.
The ruling came a day after his lawyer requested the 40-year-old’s release on grounds he had already served a quarter of his four-and-a-half-year sentence in pre-trial detention following his arrest in January 2023.
In its ruling, the Barcelona court granted him “provisional release” in exchange for “the bail payment of 1,000,000 euros” ($1.08 million) also requiring he hand over his Spanish and Brazilian passports, remain in Spain and present himself to court “on a weekly basis”.
But the decision drew a furious response from the lawyer of the young woman who was raped by Alves at a Barcelona nightclub in December 2022.
One of the world’s most decorated footballers who played for Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, Alves was convicted last month of raping the young woman in the VIP bathroom of Sutton nightclub in the early hours of December 31, 2022.
His lawyers swiftly appealed the conviction.
The court’s decision on Wednesday also bars him from “coming within 1,000 metres (yards) of the plaintiff, her home, her workplace and whatever other place that she is, as well as making any attempt to communicate with her”.
