Accuser was emotionally fragile: lawyer

LAS VEGAS: A lawyer for a woman alleging Cristiano Ronaldo raped her in Las Vegas in 2009 says her client was ‘‘emotionally fragile’’ and agreed to an outofcourt settlement nine years ago because she never wanted her name made public.

Kathryn Mayorga is out of the United States and not speaking to media about the lawsuit she filed last week seeking monetary damages from Ronaldo, lawyer Larissa Drohobyczer said.

‘‘She’s not going to be interviewed,’’ the lawyer said. ‘‘At this time she’s emotionally fragile.’’

The civil lawsuit filed in state court in Las Vegas alleges Ronaldo raped Mayorga, who was then 24, in his penthouse suite at a Las Vegas hotel and hired a team of what the document called ‘‘fixers’’ to shape the monetary settlement, obstruct a police criminal investigation and trick Mayorga into taking $US375,000 to keep quiet.

An attorney for Ronaldo, Christian Schertz, in Berlin, did not immediately respond to emails from AP.

It was not immediately clear if the player had a lawyer representing him in the matter in the US.

After the German magazine Der Spiegel reported about the lawsuit last week, Schertz threatened to sue, saying the article violated Ronaldo’s personal rights ‘‘in an exceptionally serious way.’’

In an Instagram video posted hours after the suit was filed, Ronaldo appears to deny the allegations.

‘‘Fake. Fake news,’’ said the fivetime world player of the year. ‘‘You want to promote by my name. It’s normal. They want to be famous, to say my name. But it is part of the job. I am a happy man and all good.’’ — AP