Spanish prosecutors are seeking a nine-year jail term for former Brazil star Dani Alves, accusing him of raping a young woman at a Barcelona nightclub in December 2022. The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain full-back has been in jail in Spain since his arrest in January. Prosecutors are also demanding that Alves pay his alleged victim 150,000 euros ($163,500) in compensation, according to an indictment. A trial date has not been set.

Alves, 40, has consistently maintained that he engaged in consensual sex with his accuser. In an interview with Barcelona-based newspaper La Vanguardia in June, his first since the arrest, he stated, “I have a really clear conscience regarding what happened that night in the bathroom of the VIP area of the Sutton nightclub.” He denied forcing the woman to do anything against her will.

However, when the news first broke and before his arrest, Alves, in a television interview, initially denied knowing the woman who filed a police complaint against him on January 2. He later admitted to lying initially because he feared it would jeopardize his marriage.

The indictment provides a detailed account of the incident at the upscale Sutton nightclub, alleging that Alves, after meeting the woman at the venue, invited her into a small enclosure she didn’t realize was a toilet. Once inside, prosecutors claim Alves exhibited a “violent attitude,” forcing the woman into intercourse despite her resistance.

Spain’s sexual consent law, passed last year, covers a range of offences from online abuse and groping to rape, each carrying different potential punishments. The charge of sexual assault can result in a maximum sentence of 15 years.

At the time of the incident, Alves was on holiday in Barcelona after playing for Brazil at the World Cup in Qatar. Following his arrest, he was dismissed by his Mexican club Pumas UNAM.