Dani Alves appears in court accused of raping, facing 12-year prison sentence

Former Barcelona star Dani Alves is due to go on trial for rape this morning in Spain with the threat of a 12-year prison sentence hanging over his head.

The Brazil international, 40, will be driven to court in a police van from Brians 2 Prison near the Catalan capital, where he has been held on remand for over a year.

State prosecutors have said they wanted him jailed for nine years if convicted of raping a 23-year-old woman in a toilet at Barcelona's upmarket Sutton nightclub on December 30 2022.

A lawyer acting for Alves' female accuser, who is prosecuting the father-of-two on her behalf, has called for him to face the maximum 12-year prison sentence if he is found guilty.

Both prosecutors are also seeking a compensation payment of €150,000 (£128,000).

The former Barcelona defender has denied wrongdoing but admitted to having cheated on his wife with his accuser, insisting sex was consensual.

Failing an eleventh-hour plea bargain deal, the trial will start at 10am local time (9am GMT) at Barcelona's Audiencia Provincial Court and is scheduled to last for three days.

The three judges, who are sitting without a jury - as is normal in Spain for sex crime cases - have around a fortnight to return their verdict once the trial ends and will announce their decision in a written ruling.

Alves, who can opt to take the stand on the last day, has insisted he had consensual sex with the woman who has accused him of forcing himself on her.

After seeing bail refused last June, Alves told Cuatro programme 'En Boca de todos': 'It will be proven that I am not guilty and it was a consensual relationship.

'It would never cross my mind to impose a sexual act on anyone.'

His accuser has been given permission to testify behind-closed-doors.

Her cousin and a female friend who were with her the night of the alleged sex attack are among the witnesses called to give evidence along with waiters in the VIP area of Sutton's where Alves met the woman whose accusations ended with his arrest and incarceration ahead of today's trial.

Alves' wife Joana Sanz will testify on behalf of the footballer following his pre-trial public apology to the model for 'cheating on her' with the woman who claims he raped her.

The footballer was ordered to stand trial last November.

Initially it was reported Alves had been accused of putting his hands down a woman's underwear inside a toilet in the VIP area of Sutton nightclub before it emerged his alleged victim was saying she had been raped.

He was sacked by Mexican side UNAM Pumas following his arrest in Barcelona at the start of last year after he flew back to the Catalan capital to attend his mother-in-law's funeral.

Alves has made repeated bail requests but they have all been turned down, with judges saying his alleged victim's version of events was coherent and pointing out the defendant had changed his story several times as the evidence authorities have against him has emerged.

Alves claimed before his arrest he had never met his female accuser but ended up backtracking after being held.

In an exclusive interview from his cell in Brians 2 Prison near Barcelona last June with Spanish TV and newspaper reporter Mayka Navarro, he claimed: 'The only person I have to ask for forgiveness is my wife, Joana Sanz.'

There are said to be several indications that corroborate the victim's claims and deny the explanations put forward by Alves to date.

Police found seven fingerprints of the victim in the cistern and also in the sink.

Footprints are also thought to have suggested a series of movements at the scene that matches the two statements given by the accuser.

As well as two spells at Barcelona, Alves has played for Seville, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Sao Paulo.

He is widely considered as one of the greatest full-backs of all time.

Alves became the oldest player to represent Brazil in a FIFA World Cup by playing in his nation's defeat against Cameroon in the final round of Group G games in December 2022.

He famously played for Barcelona from 2008-2016 and briefly returned to the LaLiga team for the 2021-22 season.

At the start of the year his mum Lucia Alves caused controversy and left herself open to future prosecution by naming and picturing her son's rape accuser in a social media post she has now removed.