CAS: Dani Alves owes Liga MX Pumas $2.2m over contract dispute

Sep 17, 2025, 08:24 PM ET

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ruled that former Barcelona and Brazil star Dani Alves must pay $2.2 million to Liga MX’s Pumas UNAM after the case over the club’s termination of his contract in 2023 went to arbitration.

The decision overturns a ruling in May from FIFA’s Football Tribunal, which initially ruled against Pumas, deciding that the club’s claim against the player would only be “partially accepted” through a payment of “USD 159,677 as compensation for breach of contract, plus 5% interest” from Alves to the Liga MX team.

Dani Alves won an appeal and saw his case for alleged rape overturned. Getty

Pumas originally sought compensation of $5m (and an additional $1m-plus for image rights purchased) through a clause in his contract that noted the consequence of a premature termination in the signed agreement without just cause.

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CAS’ recent decision highlighted that the clause “simply does not pass the fundamental ‘test’ of proportionality between the penalty and the potential damage caused,” thereby leading to the decision of a compensation from Alves to Pumas for $2.2m.

Alves, now 42, spent 14 months in jail after being arrested in December 2022 for allegedly having raped a young woman in the bathroom of a Barcelona nightclub. He denied any wrongdoing.

He was initially found guilty in February 2024 and sentenced to four years, six months in prison. Alves appealed that decision and won in March of 2025 when a Spanish court overturned the ruling. Pumas terminated his contract in 2023.

Pumas made the announcement on Wednesday, saying they won an appeal against the contractual dispute, without referencing the amount due.

“The Club Universidad Nacional, A.C., announces that on September 1, 2025, it received notification of the arbitration award issued by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the contractual dispute between the club and the player Daniel Alves Da Silva,” Pumas said in a news release.