Spanish police detain Brazil’s Dani Alves over sexual assault allegation

Spanish police detained Brazil defender Dani Alves on Friday after questioning him in a police station in Barcelona over a sexual assault allegation, a spokesperson for the local Mossos d’Esquadra force told Reuters.

Alves, who has denied the allegation, will appear before a judge later on Friday, the spokesperson added.

It was unclear whether Alves, 39, would remain in police custody after the hearing.

The alleged victim told police that the Brazil and former Barcelona football star touched her under her underwear without her consent at a Barcelona nightclub on the night of 30 December.

Accompanied by her friends, the woman reported the incident to the nightclub’s security staff, who then alerted police.

Officers arrived at the scene and took a statement from the woman. She filed an official complaint for sexual assault on 2 January.

Alves told Antena 3 in an interview earlier this month that he was at the club with other people but he denied any such behaviour.

“I was dancing and having a good time without invading anyone’s space,” he said. “I don’t know who this lady is...How could I do that to a woman? No.”