Finale was a Flop-eration
Brazil star attacked woman in club
BRAZIL football legend Dani Alves was yesterday jailed for four and a half years after being convicted of rape.
The 40-year-old former Barcelona star attacked a woman aged 23 at a nightclub in the Catalan capital on New Year’s Eve, 2022.
He was also ordered to pay her £128,000 in compensation.
A court heard Alves “grabbed hold of the victim and threw her on the ground” before raping her as she pleaded “no”.
The woman told of her ordeal from behind a screen at a court in Barcelona. She said Alves had forced himself upon her in the toilets of plush nightclub Sutton.
A friend broke down in tears as she revealed the victim was “crying uncontrollably” after the attack.
Prosecutors had demanded a nineyear sentence for Alves, who has won more than 100 caps for Brazil.
He admitted having sex with the victim in the nightclub, but insisted it was consensual. A spokesman for
Celebrating Brazil goal the court said: “Daniel Alves has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison after being convicted of sexual assault.
“The court ordered him to stay away from his victim for nine and a half years and determined he should pay her €150,000 and pay costs.
“The sentence says it has been proved the victim didn’t consent and there is proof supporting the victim’s testimony to consider the rape has been proven.”
Alves was arrested in January last year and has since been in custody.
Requests for bail were denied as he was considered a flight risk. Brazil guarantees none of its citizens can be extradited.
Alves, who at 39 became the oldest player to represent Brazil at the Qatar World Cup in 2022, was ordered to stand trial last November.
THE finale of Operation Transformation was watched by 300,000, RTE has revealed.
It is believed this year’s finale was their lowest rated show, hosted by Kathryn Thomas, in several years.
Last year, the final episode was watched by an average 340,000 viewers.
A spokeswoman for RTE said: “On Wednesday the Operation Transformation finale was watched by an average audience of 300,000 viewers.”