October 23 – Cristiano Ronaldo has broken his silence over the rape allegations against him saying his “lawyers are confident” and that the truth will come out.
Ronaldo is returning to his old club Manchester United in a Juventus shirt in the Champions League tonight (Tuesday) and was asked about the much-publicised claims at a pre-match press conference.
Ronaldo has vehemently denied assaulting Kathryn Mayorga at a Las Vegas hotel in 2009 and a statement from his lawyer Peter Christiansen charged earlier this month that “media outlet irresponsibly” based its reports on “stolen and easily manipulated digital documents” of which “significant parts were altered and/or completely fabricated”.
The German magazine which broke the story, Der Spiegel, says it stands by its report and has “no reason” to doubt the authenticity of key documents used in its story despite Ronaldo’s lawyers claiming documents used in Der Spiegel’s investigation were “completely fabricated”.
Speaking for the first time since Mayorga went public with her accusations, Ronaldo said: “”My lawyers, they are confident and of course I am, too.”
“I know I am an example. I know, 100%. On the pitch and outside the pitch. So I am always smiling, I am happy man, I’m blessed that I play in a fantastic club. I have a fantastic family, I have four kids, I am healthy. I have everything. So the rest, it doesn’t interfere on me. The truth is always coming in the first position.”
Der Spiegel claims that in 2010, Mayorga reached an out-of-court settlement with Ronaldo involving a $375,000 payment for agreeing never to go public with the allegations. Her lawyers are now seeking to declare the non-disclosure agreement void. Mayorga was inspired to speak out by the #MeToo movement, her lawyer has said, and is suing Ronaldo in a lawsuit in the United States.
Las Vegas police have confirmed they investigated a complaint in June 2009, but added they had no suspect in the case. This month they said they had reopened the case.
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