Brazilian defender Dani Alves will be tried on sexual assault charges in Spain, the high court of Catalonia told AFP on Monday, July 31.
The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star was detained in January after being accused of raping a young woman in the bathroom of a nightclub in late December.
The court said a date for the trial had not yet been set.
The 40-year-old Brazilian has been held in custody without bail because the court investigating him felt there was a risk he would try to flee.
When the story first broke, Alves in a television interview initially denied knowing the woman. But when questioned by investigators after his arrest, he changed his story, insisting that they had had consensual relations. Alves, who could face up to 12 years in jail if found guilty, defended his innocence in an interview published in June, saying he has a "clear conscience".