A court in Spain has found former Barcelona and Brazil footballer Dani Alves guilty of raping a woman in a Barcelona nightclub. He has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison. The 40-year-old, who is one of the most decorated footballers in history, had denied sexually assaulting the woman in the early hours of 31 December 2022.

Alves, 40, was arrested in January 2023 after being accused of sexually assaulting a woman in the bathroom of an upscale Barcelona nightclub in the early hours of Dec. 31, 2022. Alves had remained in preventive pretrial prison in Spain ever since, with a judge turning down regular requests for bail and deeming him a flight risk.

Brazil's Dani Alves has had a second request to be released from jail on bail rejected by a Spanish court as an investigation continues into an alleged sexual assault. Alves, 40, has been held since January over an allegation he assaulted a woman in a Barcelona nightclub in December. He denies any wrongdoing.