Neymar’s Family Distances Self From Dani Alves’ Rape Case, Bail Payment

The father of Brazil star Neymar Jr. said on Thursday that his family won’t pay the €1 million ($1.1 million) required to bail Dani Alves out of a Spanish prison, where the former Brazil defender awaits the result of an appeal to his rape conviction.

Neymar da Silva Santos Sr. said in a statement on behalf of his family that they financially supported Alves during his trial, but that they won’t do it again since the former player was found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in a Barcelona nightclub in 2022.

“For us, for my family, this matter is over. Full stop,” Neymar da Silva Santos Sr. said.

Sportxparte reports that 40-year-old Alves was sentenced to four years, and_ six months in prison. He is being held at a jail outside Barcelona.

Neymar’s father didn’t specify how much they gave Alves but added that it’s a “different situation” now because the three-judge panel at the Barcelona Provincial Court ruled against Alves.

“With the Spanish court ruling for his conviction, there’s speculation and_ an attempt to associate my name and_ my son’s to a matter that is not within our reach any longer,” Neymar’s father said in the family’s statement.

He added that he hopes Alves can find all the answers he looks for in his own family. The prison term is near the lowest sentence for a rape conviction, which, when the attack took place, was penalized by’ four to 12 years under Spanish law.

In its sentence, the court said it considered Alves favourably because he had “before the trial paid the court €150,000 to be given to the victim without any conditions attached.”

Neymar Jr. and_ Alves were teammates at Barcelona and_ Paris Saint-Germain and_ for Brazil. Neymar now plays for Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia.

Alves, who has denied wrongdoing in the case, has remained in custody since being arrested in January 2023. Alves’ prior requests to be released on bail were denied because the court deemed him a flight risk. Brazil does not extradite its citizens when they are sentenced in other countries.

As a bail condition, Alves would be required to hand over his Brazilian and_ Spanish passports. He is prohibited from leaving Spain. He still has a residence near Barcelona. The Brazilian soccer confederation has yet to comment on the Alves case, and_ the head of its delegation for two friendlies in Europe said Thursday that the topic is being ignored.

Leila Pereira, the chairwoman of the Brazilian club Palmeiras, spoke from London, where Brazil will face England_ on Saturday.  “Nobody says anything, but as a woman here at the head of the delegation, I have to take a stand on the cases of Robinho and_ Daniel Alves,” she told Brazil’s news website UOL ahead of the match that will mark the debut of Brazil coach Dorival Júnior.