After a nightmare year imprisoned in Brians 2, Dani Alves was escorted to the Barcelona Court to hear his sentence. It was 10 in the morning when Alves heard the verdict: four years and six months in prison for the crime of sexual assault. The ruling considers that it has been proven that the victim did not consent and that there is evidence, in addition to the testimony of the complainant, to understand the rape as proven. The court of section 21 of the Provincial Court of Barcelona also imposes 5 years of supervised freedom, removal and incommunicado detention of the victim for 9 years and 6 months, as well as compensation of 150,000 euros and payment of costs.
But Dani Alves' punishment goes far beyond a court ruling. Sentenced to four and a half years in prison for rape, Daniel Alves is no longer a Barcelona legend. At least according to the club's official website. Since he left the team for the second time, in 2022, the Brazilian had his place on the page of legends who wore the Blaugrana shirt.
Since last Thursday he is no longer there, according to the Brazilian newspaper UOL. The aforementioned media confirmed that the decision to dismiss the Brazilian had already been a debate in the club since January of last year, when Alves was provisionally detained, accused of sexual assault by a 23-year-old woman at the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona.
At the time, the Catalan club decided to wait for the trial to make a decision. The Brazilian's name was eliminated hours after the announcement of the sentence of 4 years and 6 months by the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia, but hours after the sentence was announced, the Brazilian's name was eliminated.
On their website, andl Barcelona organizes its “legends” according to the date they left the club, with the most recent ones at the top of the page (which is why Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, who left the club at the end of last season) are them first. Daniel Alves was ranked between Gerard Piqué (who retired in November 2022) and Lionel Messi, who left the club in August 2021.
Dani Alves earned the status of legendary Barça footballer for his 408 games defending the Blaugrana jacket during eight and a half seasons spread over two stages. A long and successful career in which he won three Champions Leagues, three Spanish Super Cups, three Club World Cups, six Leagues, four Copas del Rey and four Spanish Super Cups.
However, the same will not happen with the museum. If the Barcelona website needed to remove the reference to Daniel Alves shortly after his conviction, in the club's official museum, at the Camp Nou, I understood that it was not necessary to make changes. There are no individual references and collective references will not be eliminated. “He will continue to appear in the photos of the Champions League champion team in Berlin (2015), for example. Because he was part of the team and it does not make sense, nor is it possible, to remove him from the photo,” they explain from the club.
Reactions in Brazil
In Brazil, the reactions to Alves' rape conviction have not been long in coming either. The Bahia Museum removed an image of Daniel Alves from the list of historical players of the club and the statue that honors the footballer in Juazeiro has been vandalized again.
Likewise, the Government of Brazil has publicly shown its indignation at the sentence issued by the Barcelona Court. He has done it through Cida Gonçalves, minister of women. Politics qualifies this sentence as “soft” due to the “such atrocity” committed by the former culé footballer. “We know that it is a soft sentence in the face of such an atrocity in the life of a woman.” Even so, she hopes that this event “serves as an example” to the world. “A woman's word has value and no is no.” Gonçalves has revealed that the Government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is preparing a measure so that “all women have the right to have fun safely in bars and nightclubs.”
And they don't forget Neymar either, who they harshly criticize for paying the compensation that allowed his sentence to be reduced.
Meanwhile, the Brazilian is still waiting for the court to decide on his provisional release until there is a final ruling.