Alves says sex with accuser was consensual, lied to hide infidelity from wife

Barcelona, Spain, Apr 17 (EFE).- Brazilian soccer player Dani Alves, who has been in jail since January on rape charges, on Monday admitted having sexual relations with his accuser but insisted that they were consensual.

In his prior statements to a Barcelona court, the former Barça star had denied having sex with the 23-year-old woman, who accuses him of raping her at a Barcelona nightclub on December 30.

In a first court appearance on January 20, Alves initially said he did not know the alleged victim, before acknowledging that they had crossed paths in a bathroom of the nightclub but that that they had had no sexual relations. He ultimately said that the woman had performed oral sex on him after the judge presented evidence that traces of his semen had been found.

He was denied bail in February and was ordered to remain in custody because of the “high risk of flight” and due to the “severe” and “varied” evidence against him.

During the hearing on Monday, which Alves himself had requested and that legal sources said lasted an hour and a half, the footballer told the judge that he had lied in his first statement to the court in order to conceal his infidelity from his wife, Spanish model Joana Sanz.

She announced last month that she is separating from Alves after eight years of marriage. EFE

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