Carl Recine/Reuters
Dani Alves, the Brazilian soccer star considered one of the greatest and most successful players in the sport’s professional history, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison on Thursday after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in a nightclub in Spain.
The 40-year-old athlete has been in jail since Jan. 2023 following his arrest in the case. He had continued to deny assaulting the woman in the early hours of Dec. 31 in a bathroom at the venue in Barcelona.
In addition to his prison sentence, the Barcelona court also ordered him to pay around $162,000 in compensation for the victim. Alves will also be monitored for five years after completing his sentence and was further ordered to not communicate with the victim.