Dani Alves – from 43 trophies to four years in prison

Dani Alves, who was sentenced to four and a half years in prison in Spain this morning after being found guilty of sexual assault, was until recently one of the golden boys of global football.

An exuberant, technical right-back, he was a key part of the Barcelona team that set new standards in European football between 2008 and 2016. He played 126 times for Brazil and won 43 titles in his 22-year playing career – an astonishing achievement. number that makes him the second most decorated footballer in history. Only Lionel Messi, his former teammate at Camp Nou, has more trophies to his name.

That success, combined with a ruthlessly optimistic public persona, made Alves an enormously – almost universally – popular figure. It goes some way to explaining why his hearing, which took place over three days in a Barcelona courtroom earlier this month, was labeled in certain parts of the Spanish press as ‘the trial of the year’. Despite the voyeuristic undertone, that epithet reflected how spectacular Alves’ fall from grace was.

On December 9, 2022, Alves – then 39 – was on the bench when Brazil played Croatia at the World Cup in Qatar. Exactly six weeks later, he was arrested by Catalan police, accused of raping a 23-year-old woman in a private bathroom of a nightclub in Barcelona on December 30, 2022.

These allegations have now been confirmed by the Catalan Supreme Court. “The court has no doubt that the complainant’s vaginal penetration occurred forcibly,” said a statement released by the court after this morning’s hearing.

Alves has spent the last thirteen months in a detention center about 25 km northwest of Barcelona; requests for provisional release were rejected because he was considered a flight risk and there is no extradition arrangement between Brazil and Spain. After his prison sentence, he will be on supervised probation for an additional five years. He was also ordered to pay €150,000 in compensation to the victim, plus legal costs.

Alves started his senior career with Bahia, one of the biggest clubs in northeastern Brazil. He moved to Spain at the age of 19 and joined Sevilla – initially on loan and then on a permanent contract after winning the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship with Brazil’s under-20 side.

Some initially wondered whether Alves had the physical strength to compete in La Liga. However, his interpretation of his position made the doubters reconsider. Alves was technically a defender, but defense was not his specialty. He was a free spirit, a de facto winger in the mold of his childhood idol Cafu.

Sevilla soon discovered that they needed to harness that energy rather than contain it. Alves was encouraged to get forward and make use of his speed and skill in the final third. He helped the Andalusians win their first European trophy in 2006, set up the opening goal in the UEFA Cup final against Middlesborough, and was equally influential as they retained that title in 2007. A year later he became a Barcelona player.

His first eight-season stint at Camp Nou – he later made a brief, largely forgettable return during the 2021-2022 season – turned Alves into a superstar. During that time he won six Spanish league titles, three Champions Leagues and fourteen other trophies, rarely missing a match. It would be difficult to name another full-back who could come close to matching his influence and consistency over the same period.

It helped that his arrival at Barcelona coincided with that of Pep Guardiola. The Catalan’s possession-oriented approach suited Alves perfectly and revealed new nuances in his game. His combination play with Messi in particular has been one of the defining features of what many consider the best club side of the modern era.

Even after leaving Barcelona in 2016, Alves remained a prominent figure. He reached another Champions League final with Juventus at the age of 34 – “an alien,” Juve defender Leonardo Bonucci called him – and won two French titles with Paris Saint-Germain. When he returned to Brazilian club football in 2019 and signed for Sao Paulo FC, 45,000 fans came to the Morumbi Stadium to welcome him.

It was probably to be expected that he would never quite be able to replicate his success at club level with his national team. Alves played for Brazil during an extended period of change and, bizarrely, only became a regular starter in the latter stages of his career. He would have captained the Selecao at the 2018 World Cup but was ruled out of the tournament due to injury. However, he did wear the armband the following summer, leading Brazil to a Copa America victory on home soil.

Alves’ attitude – cheerful, cheeky, apparently carefree – perhaps won him even more admirers than his skills. A little personality can go a long way in a sport as overwhelmingly self-serious as football, and the Brazilian always seemed determined to take his onto the pitch rather than leave it in the dressing room.

Over time, Alves leaned into this persona and became a full-time cultivator of his own image. He dabbled in modeling, released a single and embraced social media. It looked like he had a tambourine or drum in his hand as he got off the Brazilian team’s bus. He turned his description of his own character (“good fool”) into a slogan. Every time he signed an autograph, he drew a smiley face in the capital D.

Alves played for PSG between 2017 and 2019 (Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images)

It has become a rite of passage for football players to publish lengthy first-person pieces on the Players’ Tribune website. Alves contributed two: one about his humble upbringing and another about the pain of missing the 2018 World Cup. “Dani Alves isn’t going to the World Cup,” reads an emblematic line, “but he’s still a lucky bastard. ”

Later, when he moved to Sao Paulo, the same website produced a seven-part documentary on Alves’ life. In one episode, he talks at length about his iconoclastic fashion sense as he mugs the camera in a series of designer jackets. In another, he discusses his relationship with music. Episode three is about Alves reconnecting with his two children from his first marriage. The title is The Family Man.

That part of Alves’ reputation is now in tatters along with all the others.

Earlier in February, the Supreme Court of Catalonia heard testimony about Alves’ “slimy attitude” from the victim’s friend, who was present at the Sutton nightclub on the night of the incident. While the victim’s statement was made privately, her testimony – previously reported by The Athletics based on evidence from previous hearings – gave a detailed account of Alves holding her against her will in a toilet stall and penetrating her without her consent.

Alves was sentenced to four and a half years in prison (ALBERTO ESTEVEZ/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

This morning, the court confirmed this version of events, concluding that Alves “abruptly grabbed the complainant, threw her to the ground and, rendering her unable to move, penetrated her vaginally, despite the fact that the complainant said no, that She wanted to Leave”.

In a statement, the court said that “the victim’s injuries made it more than clear that there was violence to force the victim into sexual relations,” and that “the suspect suppressed the victim’s will by using of violence. ”.

Defense attorneys plan to appeal the decision.

However, the emphatic nature of the verdict means it will be difficult to ever look at Alves in the same way again.

(Photos: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)