Neymar’s father and a tax refund, Dani Alves’ best options to post bail and walk out of prison

Dani Alves had been preparing for some time for the possibility, now a reality, of having to post bail to be released from prison, where he was sent following his arrest in early 2023 over a sexual assault charge. The efforts to raise the money went into high gear this Wednesday, once the Barcelona High Court issued an order in which it set a bail of €1 million ($1.08 million) as a condition for the former FC Barcelona player to be provisionally released pending the final decision on his conviction, which has been appealed. Alves, who was last month found guilty of raping a 23-year-old at the upscale Sutton club in Barcelona in late December 2022, has been considering two options to make the payment: financial help from the father of Neymar, a former teammate of his at Barça and the Brazilian team; and a hefty tax return that he is expecting to receive in a matter of days.

The quickest way to get out of the Brians 2 penitentiary in Barcelona, where he has been held for 14 months — most of it in pre-trial detention — is to get the money from Neymar’s family. The Brazilian forward has already lent Alves the €150,000 that he paid in civil damages to the rape victim, a disbursement that was key in his conviction and his release: although the prosecution was seeking nine years in prison for rape, judges finally imposed a lower sentence of four and a half years due to the mitigating circumstance of reparation for damages.

Neymar’s father is, according to sources familiar with the situation, in a position to pay the million euros demanded by the Barcelona court, and local newspaper La Vanguardia on Wednesday reported that Alves would probably walk out of prison on Thursday “thanks to the deposit that his friend Neymar’s father will make.” The procedure is relatively simple: the player’s lawyer must transfer the money into a court account, and after that the court orders prison authorities to release the player.

Alves still has another option, although it may take a little longer, therefore delaying his release. Through his tax lawyer, Fernando Mota, the player has won four cases against Spain’s Tax Agency, which must now return a little over €9 million to Alves. On Wednesday, tax authorities issued a payment execution order for €6.8 million, according to La Vanguardia and confirmed by this newspaper. The payment may take between two and five days to reach the player’s accounts, according to the same sources.

Alves’s real assets are currently unknown, at least to the judges, who have agreed to his release on bail on the grounds that the flight risk has decreased. The amount of bail is set based on the nature of the crime, the convicted individual’s social status and other circumstances. In Alves’ case, the judges have confirmed that his “long professional career as an elite footballer” suggests that he has a “situation of comfortable financial solvency.” They have also taken into account, as the defense acknowledged in the hearing to request his release, that the player is about to receive “a large sum of money” from the tax agency.

After his arrest in January 2023, Pumas, the Mexican team where he was playing, unilaterally terminated his contract. Many other sponsorship and advertising contracts also fell through in the following weeks. The court admits that his main sources of income have disappeared, but suspects that he still has sufficient funds. Judge Luis Belesta, who cast a dissenting vote (he is in favor of keeping Alves in preventive prison), pointed out that he bought the property in Esplugues de Llobregat (Barcelona) where he is registered as a resident for €5 million. Belesta added that one million euros is “what a high-level footballer earns monthly.”

But Alves’ situation is a little more complex. Due to a dispute with his ex-wife, his accounts in Brazil have been frozen, so he cannot access his funds there (hence his need for help to pay the €150,000 in damages).

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