Ex-Barcelona defender Dani Alves has been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault after allegedly touching a woman under her clothes at a nightclub without her consent.
The Brazilian World Cup star was detained on Friday morning and will be kept in custody until a court hearing later, a police spokesperson told Reuters news agency.
Alves is accused of touching a woman below her underwear at a Barcelona nightclub on 30 December.
She reported the incident to staff, who alerted police. They took a statement from the woman.
She then filed a formal complaint on 2 January.
Alves denied inappropriate behaviour in an interview with Spanish TV channel Antena 3 earlier this month.
He said: “I was dancing and having a good time without invading anyone’s space.
“I don’t know who this lady is… How could I do that to a woman? No.”
The 39-year-old footballer is Brazil’s second most capped player, having made 126 appearances for his country.
Alves spent almost a decade at Barcelona from 2008 to 2016 before moving to Juventus.
Over the past five years he has played for the Turin club, Paris Saint-Germain and Sao Paulo before returning to Barcelona for a stint in 2021.
He moved to Mexican side Punas UNAM in July.
