Photo courtesy of Hector Vivas via Getty Images, 2022
Can we differentiate the man from the artist? This commonly asked question when it comes to visual arts also applies in sports. Can we differentiate the man from the athlete and his performances? This is what football fans are trying to do with recurrent sexual assault allegations surrounding football players, some being false and others true. It’s on February 22nd that for once, one of the cases went through and the justice recognized the Brazilian football player Dani Alves of having committed sexual assault. The former football player was convicted to four years and a half of prison. Dani Alves, one of the greatest right backs of football, was a legend of this sport because he was the second most titled player of all time with 43 trophies in total. He was only exceeded by his former teammate, Lionel Messi at FC Barcelona, with 44 trophies. This former legend of football will now be remembered for the man he is and not the athlete he was.
This decision in Spain marks a big victory for feminism as women will now feel heard and understood if any man makes them a victim. The men with power and money are not an exception to the law as the case with Dani Alves proved it. The Brazilain was convicted for sexual assault committed in a nightclub bathroom in December 2022. His arrest happened in January 2023. Ever since he was kept in prison as he waited for the trial. During this time he changed his testimony five times, first stating that he didn’t know the victim, then acknowledging that he had met her at the club, then finally claiming that he had sexual intercourse with the victim, which he claimed was consensual. Barcelona court recognized that Dani Alves had committed a sexual assault as there was clearly no consent on behalf of the victim. In her testimony, she stated that he had bought bottles of alcohol at the club for her and her friends, and then lured her into a bathroom and tried to have sexual intercourse with her. The victim told him several times that she wanted to leave and Dani Alves became violent before committing sexual assault.
The Brazilian and his lawyers tried to put the focus on the fact that he was supposedly drunk at the moment. The Barcelona Court decided that this did not interfere with his actions nor impacted them and that he was fully conscious regardless. His ex wife Joan Sanz made a testimony during the trial that Dani Alves was drunk that night as when he came back home he had been falling over the home furniture and smelled like alcohol. She filed for divorce with Dani Alves in April 2023, a few months after his arrest.
Following the sentence given to the Brazilian of four and half years of prison, near the bare minimum as the maximum sentence is 12 years, which was requested by the victim’s side, Dani Alves is also required to pay 9,000€ for physical damage to the victim. He offered to pay 150,000€ of compensation which was taken into account when his conviction was announced. He will then be on probation for five years and on a restraining order with the victim of nine years.
The former football legend’s contract was directly terminated at his current team of the Mexican Club Pumas when he was arrested. In addition to this, FC Barcelona, the club in which he spent most of his career, nine seasons, and with which he had the statue of legend, removed the statue of their official website, dedicated to the legends of the club, but only for a few hours. The fans were furious as they did not want Dani Alves affiliated with the club anymore despite his sporting prowess at the club and did not understand why the club put his legend webpage back on.
After seeing this case, it can be affirmed by the football fans that the man should be differentiated from the athlete and his performances.
Sophomore Agathe Vanmassenhove is the Sports Editor. Her email is avanmass@fandm.edu.