Dani Alves and Joana Sanz 'welcome their first child together' - seven months after former Barcelona star's conviction for rape was overturned on appeal

Dani Alves and wife Joana Sanz have welcomed their first child together, seven months after the former Barcelona footballer had his conviction for rape overturned, according to a report.

The Brazilian was handed a four-year jail term in February last year after three judges convicted him of the sex attack following a three-day trial. Throughout his trial, he faced an acrimonious split from his wife, 33-year-old model Sanz. However, it was never confirmed that they had undergone a divorce.

After initially supporting her then husband, their relationship quickly deteriorated, ending with the runway model posting a triumphant selfie in the moments after he was sentenced to four-and-a-half years behind bars.

However, they appeared to reconcile following his bail and she revealed that after undergoing two rounds of IVF treatment and suffering three miscarriages, she announced she was expecting her first child.

And according to Spanish digital showbiz website Vanitatis, the couple have now welcomed a baby son into the world and are back at home.

The baby's name is unknown, but is thought to begin with the letter J. Sanz is said to have gaven birth in Barcelona and travelled to Esplugues de Llobregat with her husband.

'I didn't want to share anything until it was more than obvious, but I wanted to share it for those who are fighting,' Sanz wrote on Instagram earlier this year. 'From the age of 22, I've had to deal with questions like, "When's the baby coming?"... What terrifying social pressure. 

'I never had a maternal instinct, that desire to have children or to like carrying someone's baby. As the years went by, my group of friends started having babies and social media was filled with births (I guess it's just age that's what it is).

'The phrase "your time is running out" is no joke. There is so much ignorance about a woman's reproductive age and the fact that it's not so easy to get pregnant. Five years ago, I was very afraid of the idea of ​​becoming a mother. 

'Fear that a human being would depend on me for survival, fear of not working, fear of losing myself as a woman... But that's a different story.'

Following Alves' initial conviction, public prosecutors appealed and called for Alves to be jailed for nine years while private prosecutors acting on behalf of the complainant demanded he be jailed for 12 years after they also contested the original conviction and prison sentence. 

The Catalan High Court rejected the appeals - and acquitted Alves of the crime he was convicted of.

The Catalan High Court ruling was announced in a 101-page written document which stated: 'It cannot be concluded that the limits of the presumption of innocence have been surpassed.'

Alves - who had been on bail since March last year - said through his lawyer Ines Guardiola in his first reaction to the news of his rape acquittal that he was 'very happy.'

'They pointed fingers at me, insulted me, threatened me, and persecuted me for two years. As if I were the one in the dock ,' Sanz wrote in Spanish alongside a selfie when the news was announced.

'Despite so much media and public damage, I am still standing, without missing a job as so many would have wished to happen, faithful to my beliefs and defending what I think without being poisoned by others. 

'I invite you to stop venting your hatred on people you don't know at all , to document and educate yourselves, so that you don't have to bite your tongue that sometimes poisons.'

After the verdict, Alves' lawyer Ines Guardiola said 'justice has finally been done.'