For the past couple of weeks, we’ve been hearing stories about an American woman, who’s accusing Juventus player Cristiano Ronaldo of raping her in Las Vegas back in June 2009.
The story initially resurfaced in 2017 after German magazine ‘Der Spiegel’ published detailed and graphic reports of the allegations, but without the identity of the victim, which they later revealed in their latest story.
Additionally, Der Spiegel reported that the matter was settled outside of court through Ronaldo paying the woman around $375,000 for her silence. The story hardens as new evidence on her lawyers’ claims is out, including the money she was given for her silence. She recently justified agreeing to the settlement because she was ‘terrified’ at the time.
The former Real Madrid forward and his team of representatives were quick to deny the whole story as it began to spread, threatening to sue the magazine over the ‘false’ reports.
However, shortly after, the woman identified as Kathryn Mayorga, 34, finally came forward with the allegations just about a week ago, by officially filing a lawsuit against the Portuguese footballer.
In a related context, although Ronaldo’s team have denied the allegations several times now, the lawsuit allegedly states that he himself, has confessed to forcefully sleeping with the woman, even though she had said ‘no’ multiple times. Pictures of them together back in 2009 are also starting to resurface.
Until this moment, no further comments have been made by Mayorga nor her lawyer, even when reached by CNN. Meanwhile, Ronaldo’s lawyer Christian Schertz, released a statement addressing the serious accusations calling them ‘Blatantly illegal’.
“The reporting in SPIEGEL is blatantly illegal. It violates the personal rights of our client Cristiano Ronaldo in an exceptionally serious way. This is an inadmissible reporting of suspicions in the area of privacy. It would therefore already be unlawful to reproduce this reporting. We have been instructed to immediately assert all existing claims under press law against SPIEGEL, in particular, compensation for moral damages in an amount corresponding to the gravity of the infringement, which is probably one of the most serious violations of personal rights in recent years.”
Following the lawsuit allegations, the five times Ballon d’Or winner addressed the story during an Instagram live video on Friday September 28th, calling it ‘fake’ and stressing on the fact that they’re just using his name to get fame. Right until this very moment, the player remains as it appears, unaffected.
Furthermore, rumors have it that Nike, the very famous sportswear company, are considering revoking their lifetime contract with CR7, as the player’s sponsors since 2003 reportedly issued a statement expressing their concern towards the allegations.
“We are deeply concerned by the disturbing allegations and will continue to closely monitor the situation.”
The script tightens as EA Sports, the incredibly well known FIFA video games publisher, have decided earlier this week, to remove the Juventus forward’s picture from their website, amid the accusations. Additionally, they allegedly also expressed their concern to CNN Sports.
“We have seen the concerning report that details allegations against Cristiano Ronaldo. We are closely monitoring the situation, as we expect cover athletes and ambassadors to conduct themselves in a manner that is consistent with EA’s values.”
The latest updates on the case came from Mayorga’s lawyers as it was reported that three more victims, who were reportedly sexually assaulted by the footballer in the last 10 years; one of which was in 2005, contacted the victim’s representative and are set to speak out. This will definitely make it harder on Ronaldo and his lawyer to keep on denying the claims without solid proof.
Sources: CNN
Sports Illustrated
Business Insider
CNN
The Sun
So, what do we make of this? Could the football superstar really turn out to be a rapist? How do you think the allegations, if proven, could affect the 33 year old’s career? Share your opinion with us!
