A Spanish court on Friday ordered Brazilian defender Dani Alves to be detained without bail after he was arrested in Barcelona on charges of s*xually assaulting a woman.
The Barcelona judge made the move after questioning the 39-year-old about “an alleged incident at a nightclub,” the court said in a statement.
Sources close to the documents said the judge took the action requested by prosecutors because the court determined that Dani Alves was at risk of attempting to escape.
Alves, one of football’s most successful players, was arrested in the early hours of Friday after being summoned to the Barcelona police station and brought before a judge.
Catalan police said they received a complaint on January 2 from the woman who accused Alves of s*xual assault. A s*xual assault accusation in Spain can mean anything from unwanted and unwanted s*xual advances to rape.
Police declined to provide details of the incident, but a source close to the investigation told AFP Alves was facing rape charges.
The woman repeated her argument before a judge on Friday, the sources added.
The alleged sexual assault took place at a popular Barcelona nightclub overnight December 30-31, according to Spanish media reports.
Daily newspaper ABC said Alves allegedly put his hands inside the underwear of a woman without her consent while she was dancing with friends and then followed her into a toilet.
She is said to have informed security staff in the club, who activated Barcelona city council’s protocol against assaults and sexual harassment.