Former Barcelona and Brazil soccer player Dani Alves might have earned millions as a professional athlete, but he says it is all worth nothing “without God.”
“What are millions of euros worth without God?” he asked the audience during a recent sermon. “I was earning millions of euros playing football, thanks to God. But in prison, I was earning 113 euros. I was happier than when earning millions.”
Alves was arrested in 2023 on charges of sexual assault. He was sentenced to four and half years in prison, but in 2025, the conviction was overturned.
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“Before, I was playing football, and now I was in prison cleaning the house,” the athlete said. “But I had my Father [God] with me. I would say, ‘What are millions of euros worth without a Father?’”
Today, Alves shares his faith with others in his new role as a preacher. Earlier this year, he spoke at an Evangelical event in Madrid, telling the crowd, “I spent 14 months in prison, but in prison Christ set me free. I lost everything, but in losing everything I found Jesus. I don’t know what prisons you are facing, but Christ can break down those walls.”
“I’m still crazy, but now I’m crazy for God,” he joked. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Some say, ‘life is short and you have to live it.’ Yes, but hell is eternal and must be avoided. Madrid, Spain — you belong to Christ!”
During another speaking engagement, Alves shared, “You have to take the things of God seriously and you have to have faith. I am proof of that. I made a pact with God.”
Alves isn’t the only Christian pro soccer player. England’s Bukayo Saka spoke about the role faith plays in his career as an athlete, sharing, “It’s really important to obviously have the presence of God in me all the time, and it gives me more confidence that God’s plan is perfect so I can go on the pitch and know that God has my back.”
America’s Christian Pulisic has also shared his faith, saying in 2021, “I’ve had to continue to prove myself over and over again. But, as always, I reach out to God, and He gives me strength. With that behind me, nothing can stop me, really.”
Alves’ words are a reminder that, even with the fame and fortune of being a pro athlete, nothing is worth more than a relationship with God.
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