In a new version of events, footballer Daniel Alves da Silva said he lied to the authorities to “protect” the 23-year-old who accuses him of sexual assault in the bathroom of a club in Barcelona and insisted that she was the one who sexually assaulted him.
Footballer Dani Alves, who has been in custody since January 20 for allegedly raping a 23-year-old girl in the bathroom of a club in central Barcelona, gave a new version of events.
According to the Spanish newspaper “Ara”, the athlete now says that he was the one who was sexually assaulted by the woman.
“It was direct to me. I didn’t touch her”, insisted Dani Alves, saying that the young woman entered the bathroom when he was sitting on the toilet and practiced oral sex on the player without her consent. The footballer now says that he lied to “protect” the young woman.
This is not the first time that the athlete has changed his story before the authorities.
Initially, he said that he had never met the young woman and that he had only seen her in the bathroom; later he denied in court that he had had any sexual encounters; and, finally, he ended up defending that the alleged victim had given him oral sex.
In turn, the young woman always told the same version. According to her, Dani Alves insisted that she accompany him to a door and she agreed without knowing that it was a bathroom.
When she noticed, she tried to get out, but the player stopped her and forced her to sit on top of him.
The young woman asked him to stop and begged him to let her out, while he grabbed her by the neck, slapping her and forcing her to perform oral sex.
The player ended up pinning the victim against the toilet, violating her.
The evidence collected so far does not correspond to the new story told by Dani Alves. Samples of the player’s semen found in the victim’s vaginal cavity show that there was penetration.
According to “El País”, the Catalan Police also collected semen samples from three other places (floor of the discotheque bathroom, underwear and the girl’s dress), all of which matched Dani Alves’ DNA.
In addition, authorities found the victim’s fingerprints in various places in the bathroom, which would confirm the positions of the body that the victim described in her report.
Dani Alves should find out between this Monday and Tuesday if he can be released on parole or if he will remain in custody.
