Star faced London claim too

A WOMAN accused Cristiano Ronaldo of rape at a luxury hotel in London in 2005 but he was cleared.

The Crown Prosecution Service said there was not enough evidence to charge the footballer, then 20, after a seven-week investigation.

Ronaldo, who was playing for Manchester United when the claim emerged in October 2005, insisted the accusations were a ‘stitch-up’.

The claims were made by a FrenchAfrican woman who had earlier been seen drinking with Ronaldo and his cousin Nuno Aveiro in the five-star Sanderson Hotel.

The woman told police she was later assaulted by the pair in the footballer’s penthouse suite.

Ronaldo admitted having sex with her when he was arrested by specialist officers from the Metropolitan Police after voluntarily going to a police station in Manchester. He was bailed after being questioned for several hours. A second woman who was in Ronaldo’s bedroom earlier claimed that she had also been assaulted but withdrew her allegations while police were still carrying out their investigation.

After the incident, the group are said to have left in the early hours of the morning to go to a nightclub.

After sending a file to the CPS, Scotland Yard was told in November 2005 there was insufficient evidence to bring charges against Ronaldo.