The 42-year-old was spotted preaching at a Pentecostal church in Girona. Alves, who then played for the Mexican club Pumas, was taken into police custody in January 2023, then charged with rape.
After a lengthy investigation and trial, he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison in February 2024. Two months later, he was released on bail while he appealed, and was ultimately acquitted. The prosecution confirmed its intention to appeal to the Court of Cassation.
Dani Alves reappears as a preacher in a Pentecostal church. Earlier this week, images of Alves circulated at the Elim Pentecostal church in Girona, where he was seen preaching to music to a congregation. Since his release from prison, Alves has published Bible verses on his Instagram account.
Regular church members told El Periodico that he is not a regular at the Elim Church in Girona, although he has been invited there on several occasions. Assistant Pastor Sammy Thomas explained that they believed Alves’ experience would be beneficial to members of their “Youth Congress.”
“We met Dani and we think he has a valuable testimony to help young people… We invited him to come and share his experience with us. That’s it, that’s all. Dani loves God, he wants to preach his word and he came to share his experience with us.”
Church under investigation for sexual abuse
The church in question is under investigation for its own sex crimes. As Cronica Global explains, Elim was placed under investigation earlier this year in Terrassa, a town near Barcelona, for multiple cases of sexual abuse. One of the pastors from the center of Terrassa is also accused of fraud to the tune of 19.4 million euros.
The Elim Church originated in El Salvador, where it has often been associated with the far right in Central America. In addition, churches with the same name have recently seen pastors convicted for sexual abuse in England and New Zealand.
