BRAZIL international Dani Alves was arrested by police in Barcelona, Spain today over allegations of sexually assaulting a woman in a nightclub in December.
The 39-year-old was arrested at the Mossos d’Esquadra de Les Corts police station in Barcelona around 10am local time today.
A spokesperson on behalf of the former Barcelona defender has however insisted that Alves ‘vehemently denies’ the allegation.
Spanish radio station Cadena Ser said Alves was taken to the Ciutat de la Justicia in Barcelona, where he will go to court and the judge will decide on his provisional situation while the case is being investigated.
Catalonia’s Supreme Court confirmed that it has opened proceedings “for an alleged crime of sexual assault as a result of the complaint filed by a woman for events that allegedly occurred in a nightclub in Barcelona last month.”
A spokesman for the regional Mossos D’Esquadra confirmed: “A man accused of an indecent assault at a nightclub in Barcelona late last year has been arrested. He has now been taken to court after making a statement to police. It will be up to the court now to decide what measures to take.”
Alves, who won major honours including the UEFA Champions League and La Liga with Barcelona, is reportedly in a cell at the court complex ahead of being questioned by a judge.
A woman claimed to Spanish media, two days after the alleged incident, that the football star had reached underneath her underwear without consent while in the Sutton nightclub in the city at the end of December.
Alves was in the Brazil squad to the Qatar 2022 World Cup in November and December, where Brazil reached the quarter-finals.
His last game was for Mexican club Pumas UNAS on January 8 in a league clash against Juarez.
