Football
Dani Alves’ wife hints at divorce from footballer jailed over sexual allegation
Joana Sanz, wife of imprisoned footballer, Dani Alves, has hinted at splitting from her embattled husband with a heart-wrenching letter.
Sanz published the handwritten letter on social media on Wednesday, 48 hours after she had visited the Brazilian international in jail for a second time since his arrest over sex assault allegations nearly two months ago.
The letter comes after she previously denied claims from a journalist that she had asked for a divorce.
The letter, written in her native Spanish was titled, “In my own handwriting”.
“I think it’s going to take me years to erase from my memory his way of looking at me, that way he had of looking at me as if I were the most incredible thing in the world, and damn, yes, I’m incredible,” it partly read.
She went on. “I am incredible because I am hardworking, independent, intelligent, thoughtful, affectionate, funny, faithful and humane, and so human that despite the damage he has caused me, I am still here by his side.
“I continue and will continue to be, but in another way. I love him, and I will always love him. Whoever says you forget love is either deceiving themselves or did not truly love. But I love myself, I respect myself, and I value myself much more.
“Forgiving alleviates, so I keep the magic and close a stage of my life that began on 18/5/15. I give thanks for the opportunities and learning that life gives me, no matter how difficult they are. Here is a strong woman moving on to the next stage of her life.”
Her emotional outpouring hinted that she may have decided to end her relationship with Alves, although she didn’t name him in the letter or mention the word divorce.
Sanz spoke out nearly a month after Alves lost his fight for bail ahead of his expected formal indictment over the alleged Barcelona nightclub sex assault late last December.
The former Barcelona defender was arrested in January after flying back to Spain from Mexico following the death of Joana Sanz’s mum.
