One million euros

Bail not paid! Alves still in custody

Dani Alves remains in custody for the time being.

(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The professional footballer Dani Alves, who was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for sexual aggression, had to remain behind bars on Thursday.

A court had ruled the day before that he could be released provisionally. However, as on the previous day, the bail of one million euros had not been paid on time. The 40-year-old must therefore remain in prison for at least one more night.

This was reported by the newspaper "La Vanguardia" and the news agency Europa Press, citing judicial circles. Dozens of reporters had waited in vain for hours outside Brian's 2 prison near Barcelona.

Request to Neymar's father
Alves had asked the father of his compatriot, superstar Neymar, to lend him money, "La Vanguardia" had written the day before, citing people close to Alves. The father had also already advanced 150,000 euros, which Alves had paid as compensation to the victim, a young woman.

The long-time professional player is not exactly considered poor, but a large part of his assets are said to have been frozen in a legal dispute with his former wife. Alves could also be hoping for a pending tax refund from the Spanish tax authorities amounting to several million euros.

Alves rejects accusations
Alves was sentenced on February 22. He must also pay the victim 150,000 euros. He had already been in custody for a good year before the verdict after a young woman accused him of forcing her to have sex in a toilet at a nightclub in Barcelona on the night of December 31, 2022. Alves denied the allegations during the trial. The sexual acts had taken place with the woman's consent.

The 126-time Seleção international, who has also played for Sevilla FC, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus Turin in Europe, was only arrested three weeks after the incident - on 20 January last year - during a visit to Catalonia. Until his arrest, he had played in Mexico for the club UNAM Pumas.