March 22 – Palmeiras president and Brazil’s chief of mission Leila Pereira has called Daniel Alves’s release on bail “a slap in the face of all women”ahead of Saturday’s England friendly.
Earlier this week, a Barcelona Court accepted the provisional release of Daniel Alves in exchange for a bail of €1 million, but Pereira, a billionaire and powerful club president back home, slammed that decision.
Talking to UOL on the sidelines of Brazil’s preparation for their international with Gareth Southgate’s side on Saturday at Wembley, she said: “Nobody says anything, but I, as a woman here as the head of the delegation, have to take a position on the cases of Robinho and Daniel Alves. This is a slap in the face to all of us women, especially the case of Daniel Alves, who paid for his freedom. I think it’s important for me to take a stand. Each case of impunity is the seed of the next crime.”
Alves’s lawyer had requested the release of his client on the grounds he had already served a quarter of his four-and-a-half-year sentence in pre-trial detention following his arrest in January 2023.
In February, the Brazilian was found guilty of sexual assault against a woman in a Barcelona nightclub on New Year’s Eve in 2022. Alves, a winner of 43 trophies, has always maintained his innocence.
In Brazil, Robinho must serve a nine-year sentence in a closed regime after a local court decided that the Italian court’s sentence over a rape in 2013 needs to be served in Brazil. On Thursday, Robinho was arrested in Santos according to Brazilian media.
Both former players were Brazil internationals. The Brazilian FA (CBF) has yet to take an official statement.
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