This has been Dani Alves’ year in prison

Time flies and there is no fence or wall that prevents the movement of the clock hands. 365 days ago, the world was amazed by news that soon crossed oceans, climbed mountains and crossed borders: Dani Alves he entered prison. Then he went to the Barcelona prison of Brians 1; The morning after the third night, he was transferred to the Brians 2 Penitentiary Center. Maybe he already knew it by then, but his life was about to change completely.

Beyond the prison limits, a life developed that extended completely parallel to the daily reality of the Brazilian soccer player, awaiting trial for the alleged rape of a 23-year-old girl that had led to his entry there.. Finally, the Barcelona Court will judge the events of February 5 to 7, with the Prosecutor’s Office asking for nine years and the complainant twelve. However, in this time, episodes around the figure of Alves have not stopped generating, anecdotes whose story has leaked out of prison and which can now be read as a kind of logbook.

First days and shopping list

After the week as a prisoner, It’s already noon y Fiesta They announced that the footballer had received a card valued at 100 euros to be able to shop at the commissary. That is, a kind of supermarket inside the prison managed by the Secretary of Penitentiary Institutions and where both inmates and prison workers themselves can purchase products.

Along with this information, Alves’s shopping list came to light. The first time I attended the aforementioned store I only spent 1,733 euros, distributed as follows: six yogurts at 50 cents per unit, four cans of tuna for 88 cents each, a bottle of champagne for 242 euros, a deodorant for 239 and four energy drinks at 15 a can.

It was in these days when they offered him to also have a television and sports clothes, options that I declined; In the case of the screen he was blunt: he did not want to hear what was said about him outside. And so he settled into the six square meter cell that he still occupies in Brians 2.

Ftbol in prison

The days and nights went by. The day began, and continues to do so, at 8 in the morning; At ten in the afternoon it comes to an end. A month after entering, as announced On everyone’s lips, the Brazilian killed the hours playing parchs, doing sports, signing autographs and working as a soccer instructor. The latter would reach its maximum level after the episode tournament between prisons.

The opportunity was a chance to win a particular trophy. Alves was heading into his fourth month in prison when the Real Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) announcement of the eleventh edition of the Torneo Intercentros Penitenciario. The Brazilian had already joined the Brians 2 team as a technician and the rumors about a return to the football arena increased like foam in a glass of champagne.

However, This competition was more of a chimera than an opportunity for a comeback.. Neither the prison in which Alves is imprisoned was on the list of participants, which included 33 penitentiary centers throughout the country, nor the Justice Department, as reported at the time. Sports worldI allowed it. The reason: a wave of attacks in which the prison had been involved for several weeks.

A very special visit

The days continued to pass and Alves accused the lack of visits. He was the only one who was going to see him Bruno Brazilchef and best friend of the Brazilian who was present the night of the alleged sexual assault. Every week I went. Not his family. We had to wait until the beginning of May for one of the most special reunions for the prisoner to take place: his ex-partner, Dinorah Santana, and her two children, Dani and Victoria, They made an appearance.

At that moment a debate was revived that still rages today: that of Alves’ love situation, who has experienced a real roller coaster ride with his wife, Joana Sanz, after the alleged crime. One of the most emotional curves of this attraction came on the Brazilian’s birthday, when Sanz congratulated him through a letter that still causes tears today. I am still here and will always continue, in another way but present, the model then published on Instagram. This letter was followed by a visit that was doubly special. Their relationship, even though it had cooled to freezing months ago, seemed very much alive.

His relationship with the rest of the inmates

When the visitors left, the people who resided there for some crime or waiting to be tried by a court remained. Among them, his cellmate whose last name he shares with another famous Brazilian soccer player and former Barcelona player: Coutinho. Help where you can. He buys things to eat from people and all that stuff. Help and invite. It’s not a star. There are officials who dance with him and there are others who are happy to have him there, said one of the prisoners, under the cloak of anonymity, in Ana Rosa’s program.

There were also other voices that were less pleasant and denounced favored treatment towards him. From what I have heard, He is accompanied to the patio by four officials who have him escorted and who keep him apart, alone. I can’t tell you if he has contact with other prisoners, but What I know is that at the moment he is separated because it is an exclusive case, as is a well-known athlete…said another prisoner to Europa Press.

There were and are as many voices as there are imprisoned people, echoes that have been heard and are being heard. a Dani Alves who today completes an entire calendar behind the same bars and about to end a wait to determine, just like that night at the Sutton nightclub, the rest of his life.