Alves' ex-wife breaks silence after his arrest over sexual assault allegations

Brazil international Dani Alves ' ex-wife has said she is living a nightmare after his arrest and incarceration and insisted he would "never" commit the sex crime he has been accused of.

The 39-year-old has spent the last three nights sleeping at Brians 1 jail near Barcelona after being held over an alleged sex assault at the city's Sutton nightclub last last month.

Overnight, Dana Dinorah said: "I'm still in shock. It seems like it's a nightmare and it's not happening."

Insisting she believed the father of their two children was innocent, the Brazilian-based businesswoman said in an interview with a Spanish TV programme: "Dani would never ever ever do this.

"I say this because I've known him for 22 years and was married to him for 10. This has been a shock for me and for my children. I have two teenage children who are suffering."

Speaking to the programme Fiesta on Spain's Telecinco station, Dana added: "Dani asked his lawyer to call me so I could sort out his most urgent things. I found out he was in prison because of that phone call he asked his lawyer to make to me.

"I've not had access to Dani and haven't been able to speak to him on the phone. His lawyer says he's sad but he's okay. She's the only one who has been able to see him. I'm here for whatever I can do to help him."

The former Barcelona defender, sacked by Mexican club UNAM Pumas after it emerged he had been remanded in custody by a judge over the sexual assault allegations, was arrested after flying to Spain last week following the death of his mother-in-law.

Alves had told a TV programme before his arrest he had never met his female accuser although he admitted to being at the nightclub where the alleged incident occurred.

Dana spoke after the footballer's current wife, Spanish model Joana Sanz, said she had lost the "two pillars of my life" following her husband's incarceration and her mum's death.

On Friday night Joana, who married Alves in Formentera off Ibiza in 2017, wrote: "I ask media who are outside my house to please respect my privacy at this moment.

"My mother died a week ago and I have barely begun to take on board that she is no longer with me for me to be tormented with the situation of my husband. I have lost the only two pillars in my life."

Alves is expected to remain at Brians 1 for at least the next few weeks until his lawyer can persuade judges he is not a flight risk and should be released after paying bail.

Investigations of the sort currently being conducted by the investigating magistrate can take months and even years in some cases to complete, although when suspects are being held in jail they speed up their probes as much as possible.

People under formal investigation can be held in prison without charge for up to four years in Spain, although the normal limit is two years.

Formal charges in Spain are only laid when an investigating magistrate rules there is sufficient evidence for a trial to take place and subsequently invites prosecutors to submit an indictment.

Both the state prosecutor in this case and a lawyer acting for Alves' female accuser demanded the footballer's remand in custody during the behind-closed-doors court hearing on Friday which followed his arrest at an undisclosed location in Barcelona.