La Liga
Spanish court sets $1.1 million bail for Dani Alves to be released from prison –
Brazilian soccer player Dani Alves can be released from jail on a 1 million euro ($1.1 million) bail while he appeals his rape conviction, after serving about a quarter of his four-and-a-half-year sentence, a Barcelona court ruled on Wednesday.
The conditions for Alves’ release include relinquishing both his Brazilian and Spanish passports so he cannot leave Spain as well as an obligation to appear before the court on a weekly basis or whenever summoned.
The court also imposed a restraining order barring Alves from coming within 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) of the victim.
The case of Alves, one of the most successful soccer players in history, attracted significant attention not only due to the Brazilian’s profile but because gender-based violence has become an increasingly dominant topic in Spain’s public discourse.
The former Barcelona, Juventus and PSG defender has been held at a Barcelona prison since January 2023. He was convicted on Feb. 22 of raping a woman in the restroom of a Barcelona nightclub in 2022 and ordered to pay her 150,000 euros. He has appealed against the conviction.
In its ruling, the court’s majority cited an article in the Spanish constitution enshrining a person’s right to freedom and said it superseded the function of a prison on remand, as Alves’ conviction was not yet final.
The 40-year-old defender’s 4-1/2-year prison sentence was below the nine and 12 years sought by the prosecutor and the victim respectively.
“To me, it’s a scandal that they let a person who they know can get a million euros in no time walk free,” the victim’s lawyer, Ester Garcia, told RAC1 radio station immediately after the ruling.
The decision, which was not unanimous due to a dissenting vote from one of the three judges on the panel, can be challenged on appeal.
Garcia said she was “outraged and dissatisfied” with the ruling, adding it was “a justice (system) for the rich” and that she would lodge an appeal.
The court’s decision and bail imposed was also criticised by far-left Sumar party, the junior partner in Spain’s ruling government coalition.
“Justice is patriarchal and discriminates according to class. Enough already,” it posted on social platform X.
Alves’ lawyer was not immediately available for comment.
His was one of the most high-profile trials in Spain since a law was passed in 2022 that made consent a key element in sexual assault cases and widened the range of prison time.
Alves benefited from this law, introduced by the Socialist-led government, as it carried a lower minimum sentence and reduced sentencing due to mitigating factors.
Alves joined Mexican side Pumas UNAM in 2022 for a reported monthly salary of 300,000 euros. The club terminated his contract following his arrest.
-Reuters
Barcelona said their request for a permit to return to the Camp Nou for Sunday’s LaLiga match against Real Sociedad has been denied, with the city council highlighting safety and security issues with the revamped venue.
Barca had been hoping to return to a reduced-capacity Camp Nou with 27,000 spectators but have failed to obtain the necessary permits from Barcelona City Council.
Barca will instead host the match at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Montjuic, where they played during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons with renovations at Camp Nou now nine months behind schedule.
“We have spotted different elements that need to be fixed and have an impact in the safety and security of the stadium,” chief of civil protection Sebastia Massague said at a city council meeting.
Barca had to begin their LaLiga home campaign at the Estadi Johan Cruyff in their own training complex, where only 6,000 fans attended their match against Valencia on September 14, after a Post Malone concert left the Lluis Companys pitch in poor condition.
“The club is currently working on the new amendments that the council has shared today,” Barca said in a statement.
On Friday, the Catalan club also announced that their Champions League group stage match against Paris St Germain on October 1 would also take place at the Lluis Companys.
Barca are second in LaLiga, trailing leaders Real Madrid by five points but having played a game fewer.
-Reuters
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Villarreal midfielder Thomas Partey on Wednesday appeared in a London court and pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and sexual assault involving three women.
Partey, a Ghana international, is accused of five counts of rape relating to two women, plus a charge of sexual assault against a third woman, between April 2021 and June 2022.
The alleged offences took place when Partey played for Premier League soccer club Arsenal. He left the club this summer and signed for Spain’s Villarreal.
The 32-year-old appeared in the dock at Southwark Crown Court and spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth and enter his not guilty pleas.
Partey was released on bail ahead of his trial, which was listed for Nov. 2, 2026 and is due to take between six and eight weeks.
He was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59.2 million) in 2020 and became a key member of the English side’s first team, before his contract expired at the end of June.
Partey played for Villarreal in their Champions League game against Arsenal’s bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday night.
He came on as a second-half substitute and was booed loudly by the Spurs fans every time he touched the ball.
-Reuters
Villarreal and Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey, who has been charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, walks outside Southwark Crown Court, in London, Britain, September 17, 2025. REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska
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Real Madrid on Tuesday denounced plans to stage a LaLiga match between Barcelona and Villarreal in Miami, warning the proposal could undermine football’s competitive balance and vowing to petition global governing bodies to block the move.
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on Monday approved the December 20 fixture at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, which could become the first LaLiga match held abroad and the first European league fixture staged in the United States.
“Real Madrid wish to express to its members, supporters and football fans in general its firm rejection of the proposal,” the club said in a statement, revealing they have already urged FIFA, UEFA and Spain’s Higher Sports Council (CSD) to intervene.
The club accused the RFEF of making its decision “without informing or consulting the clubs participating in the competition” and argued that staging the match in Miami “violates the essential principle of territorial reciprocity” in home-and-away league formats.
Real further stated that the move would “alter the competitive balance” and grant “an unfair sporting advantage” to the clubs involved.
The club also warned that approving the proposal could compromise sporting integrity and “set an unacceptable precedent,” insisting any change of this nature should require “the express and unanimous agreement of all the clubs participating in the competition”.
The plan still requires approval from UEFA, US Soccer, CONCACAF and ultimately FIFA before LaLiga President Javier Tebas can realise his long-held ambition of taking Spanish football to the U.S.
-Reuters
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