Former Brazil defender, Dani Alves, was on Wednesday granted bail, upon the payment of €1 million fee, by a Barcelona court.

Alves was convicted of sexual assault in February and sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison, of which he had already served over a year.

His lawyer, Ines Guardiola, appealed the ruling and after a hearing on Tuesday, the 40-year-old has been released pending a final resolution in the appeal.

Alves will only be mandated to submit both his Spanish and his Brazilian passports and must remain in Spain, agreeing to weekly court check-ins.

He also must adhere to a restraining order which bars him from going within 1,000 metres of his victim, her home, her place of work or any other place she is known to frequent.

All parties involved – the defence, the victim’s legal team and the prosecution – have three days to appeal Wednesday’s ruling.