Ronaldo accused of rape by woman in US
FOOTBALL superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is being sued by a woman in the US who alleges he raped her in the penthouse suite of a Las Vegas hotel in 2009.
The Nevada woman alleges the former Manchester United forward then dispatched a team of “fixers” to obstruct the criminal investigation and trick her into keeping quiet for $US 375,000 (£268,000).
The suit says the woman asked police last month to reopen the criminal case.
Las Vegas police confirmed to the Associated Press on Monday that they have reopened a sexual assault case from 2009 brought by the woman named in the lawsuit.
Ronaldo’s attorney, Christian Schertz, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
But after a report on the case in Der Spiegel last week, he threatened to sue the German magazine, saying: “It violates the personal rights of our client Cristiano Ronaldo.”
In a smiling Instagram video posted hours after the suit was filed, Ronaldo appeared to deny the allegations.
“Fake. Fake news,” said the five-time world player of the year, who moved to Juventus from Real Madrid this summer. “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.”
The woman’s attorneys did not immediately respond to a telephone message seeking comment.