A Spanish court has opened an investigation into allegations that former Brazil defender Dani Alves sexually assaulted a woman in a Barcelona nightclub last month.
The Supreme Court of the province of Catalonia said in a statement that a court in Barcelona had opened an investigation into “an alleged crime of sexual assault as a result of a complaint filed by a woman against a football player.”
While the statement did not mention Alves’ name, informed sources confirmed to “Agence France Presse” that the investigation is related to the former Barcelona and Juventus player.
Catalan police said they received a complaint on January 2 from a woman who alleged that Alves had touched her inappropriately.
The alleged sexual assault took place in a famous nightclub in Barcelona on the night of December 30-31, according to Spanish media reports indicating that the player was accused of putting his hands on the woman’s pants.
Alves, 39, confirmed that he was in the nightclub at the time, but denied any wrongdoing. He told Spanish network Intina 3 last week that he had never seen the woman before.
“I was there, in that place with a lot of people having fun. Everyone knows I like to dance and have a good time but without violating other people’s privacy,” he added.
Alves, who currently plays for the Mexican team Pumas Onam, was in Barcelona on vacation after participating in the World Cup, where the older player now defends the colors of Selecao in the finals.