It has been exactly a month since Dani Alves was arrested and subsequently jailed in Barcelona on January 20. However, on February 21, the Barcelona Court of Appeal is set to make a decision on whether the former FC Barcelona defender will be allowed to leave the Brians 2 penitentiary where he is currently being detained.

Alves has been remanded in police custody over sexual assault charges stemming from an incident that allegedly took place on the night of December 30-31 at the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona. After his arraignment, the judge decided against allowing Alves to post bail due primarily to his economic status and citizenship.

Being a dual Spanish and Brazilian citizen, Alves could easily abscond to Brazil where Spain does not have an extradition treaty for sexual assault cases. His economic status, having been a professional footballer for over two decades, means that Alves will have the means to live comfortably while avoiding prosecution.

As such, Alves has been detained in prison for a month, but his lawyers have presented an appeal which reportedly includes his willingness to wear a monitoring device. Alves is also agreeable to reporting to court every few days while he awaits trial should he be allowed to post bail and leave the prison. According to Marca, Alves is even open to surrendering his passport to show that he has no intention to flee.

The defence team is being led by lawyer Cristobal Martell, whose first priority is to get the footballer out of prison while they prepare to face trial for the alleged rape. After changing his version of events several times, Alves has now admitted to having sexual relations with his 23-year-old accuser, but he maintains that the relations were purely consensual.

A hearing took place over the appeal last Thursday, and after a thorough review of the arguments presented by both sides, a decision will be made today. As expected, the prosecution wishes to keep the footballer firmly behind bars while he awaits trial, with him being an obvious "flight risk."

It remains to be seen if FC Barcelona's most decorated player will be able to gain some normalcy in his life as he continues to fight to prove his innocence. His wife, Joana Sanz, was thought to be seeking a divorce. However, she has since declared that he is not leaving him in his darkest hour. It is believed that the defence want her by her husband's side to strengthen his case during the trial.

Dani Alves
Mexico's Pumas signed Brazil defender Dani Alves last July after he left Barcelona for a second time AFP / Ulises Ruiz
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