Dani Alves will also not be released from prison today for failing to pay the one million euros bail set by the Spanish court to grant him provisional release. The legal representatives initially had until 2:00 PM local time (10:00 AM in Brazil) to pay the sum, and later the deadline was extended by one more hour, but they still did not do so.
The defense team of the former Brazilian national team full-back, sentenced to four and a half years in prison for rape, stated yesterday that they were confident they could raise the money and secure his release while the appeals against the sentence are being resolved. However, despite the extra time given by the penitentiary service, this did not happen.
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This means that the footballer will spend the weekend at the Brians 2 penitentiary center in Catalonia, where he has been held since January last year. The judicial office where they must appear to pay the bail is closed on Saturday and Sunday and will reopen on Monday.
Yesterday, Neymar’s family denied reports that they would pay the bail. Specifically, the star’s father was the one who refuted press reports, although he did help Alves at one point with 150,000 euros to cover legal defense costs.
“Alves is very calm”
Members of a religious pastoral group who visited the athlete in prison yesterday said he is “very calm,” according to Catalan media reports. He is a “very religious man,” they emphasized.
On the other hand, the press highlighted the surprising decision of the footballer’s wife, Joana Sanz, to close her Instagram account. The woman always publicly showed her support for Dani Alves, even during the trial held last month.
Alves was found guilty of raping a woman in the bathrooms of the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona on the night of December 30, 2022. The 40-year-old footballer claimed there was consent and denied being violent. However, the court that judged the case rejected his version and explained that “for the existence of sexual assault, it is not necessary for physical injuries to occur, nor for there to be a heroic opposition from the victim to engage in sexual relations.”
