Dani Alves Detained In Barcelona Over Sexual Assault

Brazil international Dani Alves has been arrested and detained in Barcelona for sexually assaulting an unnamed lady.

Dani Alves was driven to court on Friday afternoon for questioning days after reports went viral that he sexually assaulted a lady at a nightclub in Barcelona.

Before now, the footballer had admitted that he was at the iconic city nightclub Sutton late last month when the alleged sex crime took place.

But he protested his innocence in a Spanish TV interview after a court confirmed it had opened a formal investigation, insisting: ‘I don’t know who this lady is. I don’t know her name, I don’t know her, I’ve never seen her in my life.’

On Friday, the former Barcelona defender, now with Mexican side UNAM Pumas, was arrested at an undisclosed location and taken to a police station in the neighbourhood of Les Corts to make a statement.

Reports in Barcelona claimed that the 39-year-old, who became the oldest Brazilian to play in a FIFA World Cup last month, had arranged his police interview through lawyers.

The reports also said he would be arrested and fingerprinted as part of the routine procedure before being questioned and taken to the court probing the alleged sexual assault.

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 the police.

‘It will be up to the court now to decide what measures to take.’

The charge of sexual abuse in Spain can mean anything from unsolicited and unwanted sexual groping to rape. Police said they could give no detail on the case.