MADRID, Spain (AFP) — A Spanish appeals court overturned Friday former Brazil international footballer Dani Alves’ rape conviction, citing insufficient evidence.

Alves was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail in February last year for raping a young woman in the VIP bathroom of a Barcelona nightclub on December 31, 2022.

The 41-year-old, who won the Champions League three-times with Barcelona, was released from jail last March pending his appeal after he posted the one million euros ($1.1million) bail set by the court.

The Barcelona-based appeals court said its four judges had “unanimously” accepted the player’s appeal and “annulled” his conviction, saying there was “insufficient evidence” to prove he was guilty.

His trial contained “a series of gaps, inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and contradictions regarding the facts, the legal assessment, and its consequences,” the court said in its ruling.

Alves’ accuser was an “unreliable complainant” since her testimony “differed notably” from evidence of video footage taken before she and Alves entered the bathroom where she alleges the player forced her to have sex without her consent.

The ruling can still be appealed to the Supreme Court.

“We are very happy. He is innocent, that is demonstrated. Justice has spoken,” the player’s lawyer Ines Guardiola told RAC1 radio.

But the plaintiff’s lawyer, Ester Garcia, said her client felt “like she had returned to the bathroom where the events took place.”

“Legally, we will have to appeal this decision, but we will also take into account the emotional state of our client. It has been two years of hell for her.”

– ‘Question women’s word’ –
Equality Minister Ana Redondo said the judiciary needed to “reflect” on how it handled rape cases in the wake of the ruling.

“We can’t constantly question women’s word,” she told reporters in the southern city of Granada.

“They must know that their voice is credible and supported by the law.”

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, a self-described feminist, has made the fight against sexual violence a priority.

His minority government reformed the country’s criminal code in 2022 to define all non-consensual sex as rape in response to the case of an 18-year-old woman who was gang raped by five men during the San Fermin bull-running festival in Pamplona.

During the trial, the woman, who testified behind a screen to protect her identity, said Alves had violently forced her inside the bathroom to have sex despite begging him to let her go, causing her “anguish and terror”, according to prosecutors present for her declaration.

Alves testified that his sexual encounter with the woman was consensual and denied hitting the woman and grabbing her hair.

“I am not that type of man, I am not violent,” he told the court after his defence lawyer asked if he had forced her to have sex.

“If she wanted to leave, she could have left, she was not obliged to be there,” he added.

– Stellar career –
His lawyers argued during the trial the victim had been “glued” to the player while dancing at the nightclub.

Alves initially denied knowing his accuser in a TV interview but later acknowledged having sex with her after CCTV footage emerged showing the pair entering the lavatory of the nightclub.

He told La Vanguardia newspaper he had lied because he was afraid his wife would leave him.

The appeals court also lifted all restrictions on Alves, including a travel ban and restraining order, and dropped a 150,000-euro compensation claim against his accuser.

Alves was a pivotal part of an all-conquering Barcelona team — crowned La Liga champions six times — and won 126 caps for Brazil, winning the Copa America twice.

He also won European league titles with Italian giants Juventus and French outfit Paris Saint Germain.

At the time of his arrest, he was contracted to Mexican club Pumas UNAM — he was sacked soon afterwards.