Neymar criticised for providing financial help to Alves to continue defence of sexual assault case

On Thursday, Catalonia's top court found Dani Alves guilty of sexually assaulting a woman, and sentenced the former Barcelona star to four and a half years in prison. The incident occurred in a Barcelona night club in 2022 and the Brazilian has also been ordered to pay 150,000 Euros to the victim. Alves was arrested in January last year and has been held on remand since.

Alves' assets have been frozen following his divorce from ex-wife Dinorah Santana, who is also suing him for non-payment of alimony. According to Brazilian outlet UOL, the 40-year-old had to turn to his former teammate Neymar for help, after being left stranded in Barcelona. The winger reportedly transferred 150,000 Euros to the courts on August 9, as payment for 'mitigating compensation for damage cause'.

It is being reported that the payment had a massive impact on the length of the sentence decided, with Alves receiving the minimum sentence of four years.

Also, Alves modified his defense during the investigative phase while in custody. He intially denied any sexual contact, before admitting to sexual relations that he stated were consensual. He stated that he had been trying to save his marriage by not admitting to the encounter earlier.

Neymar's help to Alves hasn't just stopped at monetary means. On June 28, Alves also appointed Gustavo Xisto, who is one of the oldest representatives of the Al Hilal star's father's companies. Alves has appointed him as his attorney. Following the appointment, Alves removed Santana from managing his assets.

The case has gained plenty of attention due to gender violence becoming a big topic in public discourse in Spain. A law was passed in 2022 which made consent a key element in sexual assault cases, also increasing minimum prison time for assaults involving violence.

In a statement, the court said, "The sentence considers that it has been proven that the victim did not consent, and that there is evidence, in addition to the testimony of the plaintiff, to consider the rape proven."

According to reports in the Brazilian media, Neymar has been heavily criticised by top ministers for his act.