Dani Alves is one of the first names that comes to mind when talking about the most successful Brazilian footballers in Europe in terms of trophies won. The former Barcelona may not have the fame of Ronaldinho or the flair and talents of Marcelo, but he held the record for the player with the most trophies for quite a while until Messi broke it just last year.
Despite his success as a football player, the past few months haven’t been the best for the former Sevilla and Barcelona defender. He spent up to a year in jail while his case remained in court for rape allegations, and he eventually got a four-and-a-half-year sentence, which he is currently appealing, leaving him with the chance to make bail of €1 million.
Dani Alves’ prison bail paid by Brazilian magazine
Dani Alves’ life has been magnified in the media for over a year since news of his rape allegations first broke out in January 2023. For the first time in over a year, Dani Alves tasted freedom when his bail conditions were met, with his appeal case pending a hearing, which is set to happen in 2025.
After several reports initially suggested that Memphis Depay paid the bail money, it has now been revealed that a Brazilian magazine company paid the money. In return, the company will get the exclusive rights to run a story on Alves’ life as a soccer player.
Despite all the money he made as a soccer star, Dani Alves has been denied access to his assets, which were frozen in light of the rape allegations. During his intense legal battles, before his initial four-year sentence, Neymar willingly paid his legal fees and made his lawyers available to his former Barcelona and Brazil teammate as a good show of faith and support to his close friend. Those legal fees were reported to be in the region of €250,000.
Unfortunately for Dani Alves, he ended up bagging a four-and-a-half-year sentence, which he’s currently appealing. This was way less than what prosecutors had initially pleaded with the judge to hand him.
The case is now pending an appeal hearing, which may not take place until 2025. However, before then, Dani Alves will remain out of jail but cannot travel out of Spain because he’s considered a flight risk. He has turned over his passport at the court in a good show of faith that he won’t be leaving the country until his case is fully settled.
Dani Alves meets ex-partner following prison release
With those rape allegations and the fact that he spent more than a year behind bars while awaiting his trial to be concluded, it’s understandable why everyone known to be a Dani Alves associate may want to disassociate themselves from the former Brazilian soccer star. His ex-wife made a strong statement when the allegations first hit the media. “To me, he doesn’t exist. He’s dead,” she said.
While one ex-wife claims the former Barcelona star is dead to him, another one is reportedly in his Barcelona house to show her support for his estranged partner. Joana Sanz was Alves’ partner up until when the rape allegations were made known. She has since deleted everything related to Dani Alves from her social media accounts. However, on Friday, she paid her ex-partner a visit in his Barcelona home for unknown reasons, although Spanish media reported it was just to show him some support.
Dani Alves will spend the next few months in Barcelona until his appeal hearing begins, which means he’ll be taken into custody for the duration of the appeal. This means one of two things; he could walk free after the appeal or spend more years in prison than his initial sentence.
