Former Barcelona star Dani Alves has returned €150,000 to Neymar Jr.’s father, which was provided to assist with his defense against a sexual assault charge, for which he was subsequently convicted.
Alves’ lawyer, Inés Guardiola, confirmed to the French news agency AFP on Thursday that the former Barcelona player, currently on bail pending an appeal against the rape conviction, refunded the money last week.
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Alves, 40, was sentenced to 4½ years in prison on Feb. 22 after Catalonia’s top court found him guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in a Barcelona nightclub in 2022.
However, he was released from jail on March 25 after making the €1 million ($1.08m) bail payment required as he awaits the result of his appeal.
Reports in March had also claimed Neymar Sr. helped Alves post the €1m bail, but he denied that was the case, saying the “situation was different” now that there was a conviction.
Alves played alongside Neymar Jr. at Barça, as well as with the Brazil national team and for a short while at Paris Saint-Germain.
After spending 14 months in prison pending his trial, Alves was freed on bail just one month after his sentence was passed pending an appeal.
To secure his release, in addition to the bail payment, he had to hand in his Brazilian and Spanish passports.
He is also prohibited from leaving the country and subject to weekly check-ins at the court house.
The victim’s legal team are fighting against release, but on Wednesday a Barcelona court rejected an appeal to overturn the bail that was granted to the ex-footballer.
Alves’ lawyers are seeking his acquittal while prosecutors want his prison sentence increased to nine years. The victim’s lawyer wants him jailed for 12 years.
