US$1,1 million bail for Dani Alves

BARCELONA. — Brazilian soccer player Dani Alves can be released from jail on a e1 million (US$1.1 million) bail while he appeals his rape conviction, after serving about a quarter of his four-and-a-half-year sentence, a Barcelona court ruled yesterday.

The conditions for Alves’ release include relinquishing both his Brazilian and Spanish passports so he cannot leave Spain as well as an obligation to appear before the court on a weekly basis or whenever summoned.

The court also imposed a restraining order barring Alves from coming within 1 000 metres of the victim.

The former Barcelona, Juventus and PSG defender has been held at a Barcelona prison since January 2023. He was convicted on February 22 of raping a woman in the restroom of a Barcelona nightclub in 2022 and ordered to pay her e150 000. He has appealed against the conviction. — Reuters.