Ronaldo rape claims 'complete fabrication'

Cristiano Ronaldo’s new Las Vegas lawyer has said claims that the football star raped a woman are “complete fabrications” and the encounter was consensual.

Peter Christiansen issued a statement that does not deny Ronaldo and the woman reached a non-disclosure agreement in 2010.

But the statement declared that documents cited in media reports about Ronaldo’s encounter in 2009 with Kathryn Mayorga in Las Vegas hotel penthouse were altered before being “irresponsibly published”.

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The statement added: “This agreement is by no means a confession of guilt.

“What happened was simply that Cristiano Ronaldo merely followed the advice of his advisors in order to put an end to the outrageous accusations made against him, in order precisely to avoid attempts, such as those we are now witnessing, to destroy a reputation built thanks to hard work, athletic ability and behavioural correction.

“Unfortunately, it is now involved in the type of litigation that is very common in the United States.”

Mayorga’s attorneys did not immediately respond to messages.

Ronaldo allegedly paid her £287,000 in an out-of-court agreement and she pledged never to speak of the incident again, Ms Mayorga’s lawyer Leslie Mark Stovall said.

A lawsuit filed on September 27 in Nevada state court seeks to void the non-disclosure agreement that Ms Mayorga’s lawyers say she signed while accepting £287,000 to keep quiet.

Las Vegas police say they have reopened a sexual assault investigation of the encounter between Ronaldo and Ms Mayorga.

• Press Association