FOOTBALLER Dani Alves' wife has admitted for the first time she has started divorce proceedings.
Joana Sanz revealed that the former Barcelona star is contesting her attempts to end their marriage after he was jailed over an alleged nightclub rape.
The 29-year-old model confirmed speculation she was seeking a divorce from the footballer in an angry social media post.
She wrote the Instagram post in response to Spanish media reports that suggested Alves was paying her to make sure she postponed the divorce until after his trial as part of a "mutual agreement."
Joana said on the post: "Lie. There is no agreement.
"Yes we are in divorce proceedings and he is contesting them and that is complicating everything."
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"No, I am not receiving any money. I don’t understand the need to invent news."
The Canary Island-born model also went on to post a photo which has given rise to speculation she is moving out of the home near Barcelona she shared with Alves, showing a pile of boxes stacked up by a window alongside the message: "End of an era."
Joana’s divorce confirmation comes months after it was first claimed she had demanded a divorce following allegations he had consensual sex with the woman who has accused him of raping her.
The 39-year-old Brazil international changed his version of events about what happened at a toilet in the VIP area of iconic Sutton nightclub in Barcelona, initially saying he had never met his female accuser before telling a judge in a recent court hearing he had lied to cover up his “marital infidelity.”
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He remains in prison near Barcelona, with a decision on his second attempt to seek bail ahead of his expected indictment and trial due soon.
His bail bid is being opposed by state prosecutors and a lawyer acting for his 23-year-old female accuser.
Joana appeared to call time on their eight-year relationship in March with a letter she posted on her Instagram 48 hours after she visited Alves in prison, writing: “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.”
She added: “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.”
Alves, sacked by Mexican side UNAM Pumas following his arrest in Barcelona on January 20 after he flew back to the Catalan capital to attend his mother-in-law’s funeral, replied with his own letter leaked to a Spanish TV station.
The letter, addressed to ‘My Dear Joana’ and written in Spanish, said: “In these difficult moments, I regret your decision and I hope that life gives us another chance to love you again.
“I understand the pain the unjust situation we are experiencing is causing and I understand that you have not been able to withstand all that pressure.
“The facts of which I am accused are foreign to me and to the values that have guided my life: love, respect and effort.
“I will continue fighting as I have always done, believing in myself with the support and confidence of those who know who I really am.”
Last week Joana was slammed after publishing a clip of herself kissing a pal at a party in the same nightclub where Alves's alleged assault happened.
The ongoing judicial investigation into the Sutton nightclub incident is said to be near its end, with formal charges expected to be laid in the next few months and a trial date scheduled after that.
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