A few days subsequent to the revocation of the “legendary” title conferred upon defender Dani Alves due to allegations of sexual assault, Barcelona reinstated him to this designation.
The list of legends on the official Barcelona website has been extended to 103 players, following Alves’ reappearance with the comment: “The best right-back in the club’s history.” The description of the Brazilian defender remains unchanged from when the club removed him from the list. “Fans will never forget Alves’ breakthroughs down the right flank alongside Lionel Messi, disrupting opposing defenses,” the club’s website added.
Dani Alves – Joana Sanz once again defended her husband against this information, as she wrote on Instagram: “Cesar’s belongs to Cesar.”
In February, Joana stated that she had not officially divorced Alves yet, while also appearing in court as a witness to defend her husband. However, the former Brazilian football star still received a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence for rape.
After Alves was convicted, Barcelona removed him from their list of legends on February 26. Just about three days later, they reinstated Alves on this list. On both occasions, Barcelona did not make any announcements on their media channels, quietly adjusting the list instead.
Barcelona’s actions have been met with public opposition and ridicule. On Reddit, user @CoryTrevor-NS commented: “Barcelona’s strange move, especially after the fans all agreed and praised the club’s actions when removing Alves’ name. While @working-acct responded: “Barcelona’s handling of this situation is worse than doing nothing at all.”
@SavageLeo19 also shares a similar viewpoint: “They could have done nothing and no one would have cared. Removing and then restoring Alves’ title is foolish. No wonder the team is struggling when the management can’t handle simple tasks.”
@mrfocus22 mocked Barcelona’s slogan “More than a club” to “More than a joke.”
However, some fans believe that Barcelona intentionally did this, as a gesture to protect the Brazilian defender. @ZodGlatan commented: “This seems to be a PR message, to assert that despite Alves being convicted of rape, Barcelona still considers him a legend of the club.”
Before Barcelona, another Brazilian player, Neymar, also supported Alves multiple times in this case. The 32-year-old star lent money to his teammate in times of need, even paying for the plaintiff’s legal fees to withdraw their allegations.
Alves played for Barcelona from 2008 to 2016, winning 23 titles, including six La Liga titles and three Champions League trophies. He scored 21 goals in 391 appearances for the club, becoming the second-highest appearance maker for Barcelona by a non-Spanish player, after Messi.