Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo has “firmly denied” an allegation of rape made against him following the reopening of an investigation from 2009.
German media outlet Der Spiegel reported on Friday that American woman Kathryn Mayorga had revealed Ronaldo sexually harassed her in a hotel room up to nine years ago.
Las Vegas police then reopened an investigation into the case, at the request of the American woman, Ms Mayorga.
Ronaldo has now released a statement on the issue, after his legal team claimed that they would sue Der Spiegel for “illegal” reporting.
“I firmly deny the accusations being issued against me,” the Juventus forward said.
“Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in.
“Keen as I may be to clear my name, I refuse to feed the media spectacle created by people seeking to promote themselves at my expense.
“My clear conscious [sic] will thereby allow me to await with tranquillity the results of any and all investigations.”
The 33-year-old had previously appeared to comment on the accusations in an Instagram post, denying Ms Mayorga’s claim as “fake news”. The stream is no longer on his account.
Ms Mayorga who is 34, is reported to have filed a rape report with Las Vegas police after the incident.
She claims to have reached an out-of-court settlement with Ronaldo in 2010 which involved a $375,000 payment for agreeing never to go public with the accusations.
Ronaldo was suspended for Juventus’ 3-0 win over Young Boys on Tuesday, after being sent off during his side’s clash with Valencia.
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He was shown a straight red card in the Bianconeri’s victory over Valencia in a controversial clash with Jeison Murillo.
