Alves ordered to remain in custody on sexual assault charges

Barcelona, Spain, Feb 21 (EFE).- A court in Barcelona on Tuesday ordered Brazilian international defender Dani Alves to remain in preventative custody on sexual assault charges.

The former Barcelona right-back is accused of sexually assaulting a 23-year-old woman at a nightclub in the city on December 30.

The court said Alves should remain in pre-trial detention without bail because of the “high risk of flight” and due to the “severe” and “varied” evidence against him.

The judges thereby dismissed an appeal against his detention filed by the Brazil international after he was taken into custody on January 20 shortly after returning to Spain from Mexico, where he currently plays for Pumas.

Alves’ lawyers had requested he be released on bail, have his passport confiscated and that he wear an electronic bracelet.

sg-ks/jt