The top court in Spain's Catalonia region said on Friday it had overturned the conviction of Brazilian footballer Dani Alves for sexual assault on appeal, saying the original ruling presented "inconsistencies and contradictions".
In February last year, Alves was convicted of raping a woman in the restroom of a Barcelona nightclub in 2022 and sentenced to 4-1/2 years in prison.
In its ruling overturning the verdict, the Catalan high court said the alleged victim's testimony lacked reliability when referring to facts that could be objectively verified through video recordings, "explicitly indicating that what she recounted does not correspond to reality".
Alves had already been released from prison on a 1 million euro ($1.08 million) bail while awaiting the result of his appeal. He may now leave the country as the appeal court lifted all travel restrictions.
Ester Garcia, the lawyer of the alleged victim, and Alves' lawyer, Ines Guardiola, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The decision can still be appealed before Spain's Supreme Court.
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