The arrest and imprisonment of Dani Alves, accused of allegedly raping a young woman in a nightclub in Barcelona on December 30, continues to give plenty to discuss.
Now, the strategy used by the Mossos d'Esquadra (the Catalan police) to get the Brazilian footballer to return to Spain and testify voluntarily has been revealed.
Dani Alves, who was in Mexico fulfilling the contract he had signed with Pumas UNAM - the Mexican team terminated the agreement after his arrest - reached an agreement with his lawyer, Miraida Puente Wilson, and the Mossos d'Esquadra to fly back to Barcelona voluntarily.
According to information from Spanish newspaper 'El Correo', the Mossos themselves admit that there was such an agreement for Dani Alves to voluntarily make himself available to the police.
Sources close to the investigation, however, have specified that until that moment the seriousness of the accusations against the footballer and the alleged strength of the evidence against him had been silenced in order to get the Brazilian to fly voluntarily from Mexico.
This way, the police got the soccer player to accept this voluntary surrender at the police station, hiding from him all the evidence and testimonies that allegedly incriminated him in the rape of the young woman.
In parallel to the statement of the alleged victim, a clear description without inconsistencies, the police had been collecting testimonies and evidence in situ at the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona.
Dani Alves gave up to three different stories
In Alves' statement to the judge, the player acknowledged, according to TV3, that he was in said nightclub, but said that it was only for a short time and he denies the sexual assault attributed to him by the victim.
This version, according to the magistrate, contradcits the evidence gathered by the police.
As reported by TV3, Dani Alves has stated three different things: first he said he did not know the girl he allegedly sexually assaulted, then he said he had seen her but nothing happened, and finally he said that she was the one who jumped on him.