He called to say he loved her. She was already deleting their photos.
In the early days of February 2023, Brazilian footballer Daniel Alves found himself speaking to his wife from a Barcelona jail cell, separated not only by bars but by the weight of accusations that had already begun to reshape both their lives. Arrested on January 20 following allegations that he sexually assaulted a young woman in a nightclub bathroom on the last night of the previous year, Alves reached out to model Joana Sanz to profess his love and his wish to preserve their marriage — even as she reportedly contemplated ending it. The case, now before a Barcelona court that found more than sufficient evidence of rape to justify his detention, pits competing accounts of a single night against each other, with a 23-year-old woman's testimony on one side and a defense team's reading of security footage on the other. What unfolds in the courtroom will determine not only Alves' freedom, but the meaning the law assigns to what happened in that bathroom.
- A 23-year-old woman's allegation that she was sexually assaulted by one of football's most decorated players in a Barcelona nightclub bathroom has set off a legal and personal reckoning that shows no sign of slowing.
- Alves' wife, Joana Sanz, is caught in the crossfire — harassed online, pressured to stay silent, and reportedly weighing divorce even as her husband calls from jail to insist he loves her.
- The defense is mounting an aggressive challenge, arguing that security footage contradicts the victim's timeline and that the investigation itself has been conducted carelessly and with bias.
- Investigators read the same footage differently, describing images that appear to show Alves beckoning the young woman toward the bathroom — a detail that cuts against the defense's narrative.
- A Barcelona court must now decide whether to maintain Alves' preventive detention, with the outcome hinging on whose interpretation of the evidence carries more legal weight.
Daniel Alves placed a phone call to his wife Joana Sanz from a Barcelona jail in early February, two weeks after his arrest on charges of sexually assaulting a 23-year-old woman in the bathroom of the Sutton nightclub on the night of December 30. He told her he loved her and wanted to stay married. She, according to reports, was considering divorce.
The call was their only direct contact since his arrest. Alves had refused to receive her in person at the jail, leaving his legal team to communicate his wishes on his behalf. Spanish television briefly reported that Sanz had filed for divorce, a claim she denied on social media. Those close to her urged caution — no public statements, no major decisions while the case remained unresolved. The pressure was nonetheless visible: she deleted all photos of Alves from her Instagram and posted about the harassment she was receiving from strangers who held her responsible.
In court, Judge Anna Marín had already ruled that there was 'more than sufficient evidence' of rape to justify Alves' continued detention, noting that the investigation remained open and new facts could still surface. His defense attorney, Cristóbal Martell, filed an appeal seeking his release, denouncing the investigation as tendentious and careless. In a 24-page submission, Martell argued that security footage undermined the victim's account — specifically, that she had entered the bathroom two minutes after Alves, not immediately, and had paused to speak with friends and a waiter beforehand.
Investigators from Barcelona's Central Unit for Sexual Assault interpreted the same footage differently, describing images that appeared to show Alves making insistent gestures for the woman to follow him inside. The woman had waived any claim to financial compensation — a detail that lent gravity to her testimony. As both sides prepared for the next phase of legal argument, the question of whether Alves would remain behind bars awaited the court's decision.
Daniel Alves called his wife from a Barcelona jail cell in early February, two weeks into his detention on rape charges. The conversation was brief, according to Spanish media reports, but the footballer used it to tell Joana Sanz, a model, that he loved her and wanted to preserve their marriage. She, by contrast, was reportedly considering divorce.
The call marked their only direct contact since Alves was arrested on January 20 following allegations that he sexually assaulted a 23-year-old woman in the bathroom of the Sutton nightclub on the night of December 30. Sanz had apparently wanted to visit him in jail to speak in person, but Alves refused to see her there. His legal team conveyed his position to her instead. By early February, Spanish television reported that Sanz had filed for divorce, though she quickly denied the claim on social media. People close to her advised her to avoid making public statements and to refrain from making major decisions while the case remained active.
The strain was visible in other ways. Sanz posted online about the harassment she was receiving—messages calling her complicit in rape. She also deleted all photographs of herself with Alves from her Instagram account, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by observers tracking the case.
Meanwhile, the legal proceedings moved forward with competing narratives about what happened that night. Judge Anna Marín, who oversees the case at Barcelona's Court of Instruction Number 15, issued a ruling stating there was "more than sufficient evidence" that a rape had occurred in the nightclub bathroom. Her written decision explained the grounds for requesting Alves' preventive detention, which had been granted when he was arrested. The investigation was ongoing, she noted, and new facts could still emerge.
Alves' defense team, led by attorney Cristóbal Martell, filed an appeal on Monday seeking his release from custody. They attacked the investigation as "tendentious" and "careless," and criticized the judge for accepting the complaint without scrutiny. The Barcelona court would ultimately decide whether to maintain the preventive detention based on the evidence collected so far.
The defense's strategy centered on challenging the credibility of the accuser's account. In a 24-page document submitted to the Spanish court, Martell argued that security camera footage contradicted the woman's testimony. Specifically, he claimed that the victim entered the bathroom two minutes after Alves, not immediately as she had stated. According to the defense, she first spoke with two friends and a waiter before approaching the bathroom door, which she then entered without Alves opening it for her. The security images, Martell contended, revealed "weaknesses in the prosecution's evidence." He also suggested that the woman may have distorted her narrative about what happened during the 16 minutes she and Alves were out of camera view inside the bathroom.
Investigators with the Barcelona police's Central Unit for Sexual Assault, however, viewed the footage differently. Sources connected to the investigation indicated that the camera recordings were consistent with the victim's account. The images appeared to show Alves standing near the bathroom door making insistent gestures for the young woman to follow him inside. The woman, now 23, had waived any claim to financial compensation from the footballer, a detail that underscored the seriousness of her allegations. As the case proceeded through the Barcelona court system, both sides prepared for the next phase of legal argument, with the question of Alves' continued detention hanging in the balance.
Citações Notáveis
There is more than sufficient evidence to consider that a rape occurred in the early morning of December 31 inside the bathroom of the VIP area of the Sutton nightclub— Judge Anna Marín, Barcelona Court of Instruction Number 15
The investigation by the Central Unit for Sexual Assault is tendentious and careless, and the judge accepted the complaint without critical examination— Cristóbal Martell, Alves' defense attorney
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
What strikes you most about this moment—the call from jail, or the marriage fracturing in real time?
Both, but they're the same thing. He's trying to hold something together from inside a cell while she's deleting their photos. That's the shape of the whole story.
The defense is attacking the timeline—two minutes between when he entered and when she did. Does that detail actually matter?
It matters to them because they're arguing the whole account is unreliable. But investigators say the cameras show him gesturing for her to follow. So it depends on what you believe the images show.
She waived compensation. That's unusual, isn't it?
Very. It suggests she's not pursuing this for money. She's pursuing it because she says it happened.
And Sanz—his wife—is being harassed online, called complicit. How does a marriage survive that?
It probably doesn't, which is why she wanted to divorce. His phone call from jail saying "I love you" feels like it's already too late.
What happens next?
The Barcelona court decides if he stays detained. The investigation continues. And somewhere in that process, the judge has to decide what the security footage actually shows.