The Spanish Prosecutor's Office will appeal the four and a half year sentence imposed on Dani Alves and will request a longer prison sentence, judicial sources informed Efe.
A Spanish court found the former Brazil international guilty on February 22 of sexually assaulting a woman in a Barcelona nightclub in December 2022.
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The court also ordered Alves to pay 150,000 euros ($162,990) to the victim.
The prosecution had requested a nine-year prison sentence for Alves, while the victim requested 12 years.
The court imposed the minimum penalty on Alves for sexual assault, considering as a mitigating circumstance that Alves chose to pay the victim compensation of 150,000 euros regardless of the outcome of the trial.
However, the Prosecutor's Office considers that it is “discriminatory” since those accused with money can pay a lighter sentence, which is why it will be one of the main elements that it will challenge in its appeal.
It is believed that the victim also intends to appeal the sentence.
Alves, 40, has maintained that the sex was consensual.
His lawyer, Inés Guardiola, said after the court verdict that her client intends to appeal the sentence, which also includes five years of probation after his release and a restraining order of nine and a half years.
The former Barcelona defender has been detained without bail in a Barcelona prison since January 2022.
