FORMER Barcelona footballer Dani Alves will stand trial for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in a nightclub late last year.
The 40-year-old Brazil international has been kept in preventative custody since he was arrested on January 20.
Three judges at Barcelona’s Provincial Court announced their decision in an eight-page legal ruling made public today.
The document read: "We consider there is sufficient prima facie evidence at this stage to agree the opening of the trial in the terms requested by state prosecutors and the prosecutor acting privately for the alleged victim.
"The statements the alleged victim has made and witness evidence and expert reports that form part of these proceedings can be considered as sufficient in that regard, without prejudice to the final verdict."
State prosecutors and Alves' lawyer will now have five working days to present their indictments outlining the prison sentence, fines, and compensation orders they are seeking if the footballer is found guilty.
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Alves' lawyer is expected to insist his client should be acquitted of any wrongdoing.
A date for the trial is yet to be set, though it will likely take place in the first part of next year.
The footballer could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted, according to Spanish reports.
Alves was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a Barcelona nightclub on December 30 last year.
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A judge ordered he be jailed without bail after hearing testimonies from Alves, the alleged victim, and witnesses.
It was initially reported he had put his hands down a woman's underwear in the nightclub's VIP area toilets, but it later emerged the 23-year-old was alleging she had been raped.
Alves, a dad of two, was sacked by Mexican side UNAM Pumas following his arrest at the start of the year.
He claimed to have never met the woman in question, then later backtracked and said the pair had in fact had consensual sex.
His lawyer reportedly said his initial story came about as Alves did not want his wife, Spanish model Joana Sanz, to find out about his infidelity.
In an interview from his prison cell with Spanish TV and newspaper reporter Mayka Navarro, Alves said: "The only person I have to ask for forgiveness is my wife, Joana Sanz.
"I have already done that here in prison, but I have to do it publicly, because the story is public, the offence I caused her is public and she deserves that public apology."
Alves, who is set to remain in prison until his trial, continued: "I entered the nightclub bathroom after her [the alleged victim].
"I didn’t even lock the door. The door was open all the time. She could have left at any time because I spent virtually all my time in there sat on the toilet seat."
He accused the alleged victim of being "badly advised", adding: "I can only think that she felt bad after having sex, that she took a decision and that she has not been capable of getting herself out of the mess she’s got into and has got me into.
"I appeal to her conscience. There hasn’t been a single night that I haven’t slept well. Not a single night. My conscience is clear.
"I’ve never voluntarily hurt anyone. And I didn’t hurt her that night either.
"I don’t know if her conscience is clear and if she sleeps well at night. But I forgive her."
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Alves is widely considered one of the greatest full-backs of all time and has played for Seville, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Sao Paulo, as well as Barcelona.
He became the oldest player to represent Brazil at the World Cup last December in Qatar.
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