Catalonia's Supreme Court has confirmed that former Barcelona and Brazil defender, Dani Alves is under investigation over an allegation that he sexually assaulted a woman in a nightclub in Spain last month.
It comes after Spanish media had reported that a woman had accused Alves of touching her beneath her underwear without consent, when she was with friends at a nightclub in late December 2022.
The 39-year-old who now plays for Mexican side UNAM Pumas, has denied any wrongdoing.
The court in Barcelona said in a statement that it had opened proceedings 'for an alleged crime of sexual assault as a result of the complaint filed by a woman for events that allegedly occurred in a nightclub in Barcelona last month.'
While the statement did not specifically name Alves, a court spokeswoman confirmed to Reuters that he was the subject of the complaint.
She said the case was under investigation but that the court had no more information.
A spokesperson for Alves, asked by Reuters for comment, said the player 'vehemently denies' all allegations.
Alves told Antena 3 in an interview last week that he was at the nightclub with other people but he denied any such behaviour.
'I was dancing and having a good time without invading anyone's space,' he said. 'I don't know who this lady is. How could I do that to a woman? No.'
Last week it also emerged that the Instagram of Alves' model wife had been taken down.
The site, the main social media platform Joana Sanz used to communicate with her 743,000 followers, now comes up with a message saying: 'Sorry this page isn't available. The link you followed may be broken or the page may have been removed. Go back to Instagram.'
Full-back Alves became the oldest Brazilian to play in a World Cup match when he captained the team against Cameroon in Qatar earlier in December. He also holds the record for most career trophies with 43, counting club and international competitions