Pumas Terminate Dani Alves Contract Following His Arrest For Alleged Sexual Assault

Mexico's Pumas announced Friday that they had terminated Dani Alves' contract after the Brazil defender was arrested in Spain on allegations of sexual assault. A Spanish judge ordered Alves, who is being investigated for an accusation of sexual assault, to jail on Friday, according to a statement from the Catalonia Higher Court of Justice news office.

“Investigating magistrate number 15 of Barcelona has received today, as a detainee, the football player Dani Alves, accused by a woman for an alleged sexual assault, in events that allegedly happened in a Barcelona discotheque this past month of December,” the statement said.

“The magistrate has ruled provisional jail without bail, for the ongoing case for a crime of sexual assault,” the statement said. The judge did, however, permit Alves to communicate while incarcerated, it was said.

Dani Alves has been sentenced to prison without bail by the judge.

According to the victim who hasn't been identified, Alves, the Brazilian footballer and former Barcelona star, touched her under her underwear without her consent and then followed her into a toilet at a Barcelona nightclub on Dec. 30, 2022. The woman, who was accompanied by her friends, reported the incident to the nightclub’s security staff, who then alerted the police. Officers responded to the call from the nightclub security staff and arrived on the site to interview the victim. On Jan. 2, the victim then formally accused Alves of sexual assault, Al Jazeera reported.

The woman who filed the complaint against Alves appeared before the magistrate on Friday along with a witness. These court proceedings were separate from Alves' arraignment and took place behind closed doors.

“When you choose to go to the bathroom, you don’t have to ask who is in the bathroom to go. I’m very sorry, but I don’t know who that lady is. I don’t know her name, I don’t know her. I never saw her in my life,” Alves said.

Alves, however, has acknowledged that he was present at the nightclub at the time, but he maintains that he has no connection to the woman who was the subject of the police's conversation.

Based on the court press office, the woman's attorney has brought a private prosecution against Alves, as is permissible by Spanish law, in addition to the case brought by the state prosecutor. According to the press office, the woman's attorney, Alves' defense attorney, the state prosecutor, and the magistrate heard the woman and Alves' individual testimonies on Friday.

The magistrate, however, did not make the details of the woman's evidence public, according to the press office for the court.

The Catalan regional police had earlier on Friday apprehended Alves, 39, according to the police press office. He was taken in a police car to the courthouse across town after speaking with authorities at a police station in Barcelona, according to the police press office, reports CNN.

Hours later, he was arraigned before the magistrate while still in police custody.

Alves stated his denial of the allegations in a self-recorded video of himself that he submitted to a Spanish reporter and which appeared on the Spanish TV program "Y Ahora Sonsoles" two weeks ago. Alves reportedly told Reuters that he is innocent of all charges.

“Regarding Dani, I feel bad for him, I am surprised, given how Dani is, and how he has been when he was here with us.“(I’m) surprised, taken aback, I can’t say anything else,” Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez said.

Alves is among the most accomplished footballers of his time, having won national championships in France, Italy, and Spain. With Barcelona, he added three Champions League championships.

Alves' Contract Terminated

• On Friday, Alves' contract with the Mexican team Club Universidad Nacional (UNAM) was immediately terminated.
• “The Club Universidad Nacional has taken the decision to terminate with just cause the employment contract of the player Daniel Alves as of this day,” club president Leopoldo Silva announced in a press conference.

“With this decision, the club reiterates its commitment to not tolerate acts of any member of our institution, whoever he may be, that attempt against the university’s spirit and its values,” Silva said.

“We cannot allow the conduct of one person to damage our work philosophy, which has been an example throughout history in the training and development of young sportsmen and women in our country,” Silva stated.