Accused of rape, Brazilian footballer Dani Alves will remain in pre-trial detention in Spain, his appeal having been rejected on Tuesday by a Barcelona court because of a “high risk of absconding”. “The court confirms the provisional detention” and “rejects the appeal presented by the defense”, he said in a press release published by the judicial authorities of Catalonia (north-east). The court highlights “the high risk of absconding” of Dani Alves “linked to the high sentence that may be imposed on him in this case” and to his financial means “which could allow him to leave Spain at any time” for to go to Brazil from where he could not be extradited. The 39-year-old is accused by a young woman of raping her at the end of December in the toilets of a fashionable Barcelona nightclub. He has been imprisoned since January 20 in the Brians prison complex, located about forty kilometers from Barcelona. A few hours after the announcement of his indictment, the Mexican club Pumas announced that it was terminating the contract of the ex-Barça or PSG player, initially scheduled to last until June 2023.