FC Barcelona have republished Dani Alves’ legends profile on their website after he was convicted of rape.
Alves, 40, was found guilty of sexual assault in February and was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison.
The Athletic reported that Barcelona removed a webpage about Alves in their “legendary players” section after his conviction, only to republish it days later.
Barcelona told Sky News it had no comment on the reports. As of writing, the webpage is still on the club’s website.
Alves was ruled to have raped a 23-year-old woman on New Year’s Eve in 2022 in the VIP private bathroom of an uptown nightclub in Barcelona called the Sutton Club.
State prosecutors were told by the victim that on the night of the assault, she danced with Alves and willingly entered the nightclub bathroom, but when she later wanted to leave, he would not let her.
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She said he then slapped her, insulted her and forced her to have sexual relations against her will.
Alves denied any wrongdoing during the trial, telling the court: “I am not that kind of man.”
The court also ordered Alves to pay 150,000 euros (£128,000) in compensation to the victim, banned him from approaching her home or place of work, and from communicating with her by any means for nine years.
Inés Guardiola, the former footballer’s lawyer, said: “I still believe in the innocence of Mr. Alves.
“I need to study the ruling, but I can tell you that of course we will appeal.”
