Gerard Pique on Dani Alves sexual assault case – ‘You feel as if you don’t know him’

While the vast majority of Dani Alves’ friends and former colleagues have opted to stay silent on his ongoing sexual assault case, Gerard Pique has spoken of the shock experienced when he found out.

Alves is currently in prison in Barcelona awaiting trial after he allegedly sexually assaulted a woman in a Barcelona nightclub in late December.

Speaking in an interview with RAC1, as carried by Marca, Pique came across as if he still didn’t know how to process the news.

“It is a complicated case, I know him and I appreciate him. The whole case, for his colleagues, is very f***** up. I want justice to do its job. Until they tell me that he has done it, we have to wait. The easy thing is to say that he is guilty, I want to wait for what the judge says, and what he says must be obeyed. And help the victim in the process. It’s very difficult.”

The pair shared a dressing room on two occasions, for a total of eight-and-a-half years, where they enjoyed the greatest highs the sport has to offer together.

“When the news comes out… I, as an ex-colleague, have the feeling I don’t know him… you’re in a state of shock because you say ‘yes, we’ve shared everything’. You see it and you would never imagine it. You don’t expect it, it’s a slap with an open hand. If it has happened, you have to be tough with him and with everything. I would be even tougher than justice already is.”

Pique also waded into the current political hot-button topic, the ‘Only yes is yes’ law. The proposed law declares that unless explicit consent is given, then those accused of sexual assault can be liable for rape or sexual assault without evidence to the contrary.

“I’m against the people of the only yes-is-yes movement. We have to respect each other, men and women, I hope there’s a world that doesn’t happen. It would be inflexible and harsh if it passes, but it seems to have passed.”

The former central defender will no doubt have gained his fair share of detractors. Alves’ case may not be resolved for a further year or two, as the Brazilian awaits a court date. He was placed in prison as a flight risk, without bail.

Tags Barcelona Dani Alves Gerard Pique
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