Cristiano Ronaldo’s lawyer says documents relating to sexual assault allegations were ‘altered or completely fabricated’
Ronaldo strongly rejects all allegations made against him
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Your support makes all the difference.Cristiano Ronaldo’s lawyer has labelled documents in which the footballer reportedly admits to raping an American woman as “pure inventions” and described the ongoing case against the Portuguese as an “intentional defamation campaign based on stolen and easily manipulated digital documents.”
Peter Christiansen claimed documents relating to Ronaldo’s case had been stolen in 2015 as part of a hack and then altered, as he stressed the player’s innocence amid allegations he sexually assaulted Kathryn Mayorga, 34, in a Las Vegas hotel in 2009.
According to legal documents apparently produced by Ronaldo’s lawyers in the aftermath of the alleged incident, and seen by Der Spiegel, the footballer admitted that Mayorga had repeatedly said ‘stop’ several times during the incident.
The document in question reportedly details verbal exchanges between Ronaldo and his lawyers. In response to one question as to whether Mayorga ever raised her voice, screamed or called out, the Portuguese allegedly replied: "She said no and stop several times."
In the document, Ronaldo reportedly says that she was lying on her side. "I entered her from behind,” he says. “It was rude. We didn't change position. 5/7 minutes. She said that she didn't want to, but she made herself available." And further: "But she kept saying 'No.' 'Don't do it.' 'I'm not like the others.' I apologised afterwards.”
However, Christiansen has said that such details were fabricated after the document was acquired via a hack in 2015.
“By 2015, dozens of entities (including law firms) in different parts of Europe were attacked and their electronic data stolen by a cyber criminal,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.
“This hacker tried to sell such information, and a media outlet irresponsibly ended up publishing some of the stolen documents, significant parts of which were altered and / or completely fabricated.
“Once again, for the avoidance of doubt, Cristiano Ronaldo's position has always been, and continues to be, that what happened in 2009 in Las Vegas was completely consensual.”
Christiansen did confirm that his client had entered into an out-of-court settlement with Mayorga. As first reported by Der Spiegel, the American reached a non-disclosure agreement with Ronaldo’s legal team in 2010 and subsequently received a $375,000 pay-off.
“Cristiano Ronaldo does not deny that he agreed to enter into an agreement, but the reasons that led him to do so are at least to be distorted,” he 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.”
Las Vegas police have since reopened their sexual assault case into the incident, having initially closed their investigation in 2009.
Ronaldo has strongly denied the allegation of rape. “I firmly deny the accusations being issued against me,” he said earlier this month. “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.”
Alongside the accusation of rape, the lawsuit filed by Mayorga accuses Ronaldo or those working for him of battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, coercion and fraud, abuse of a vulnerable person, racketeering and civil conspiracy, defamation, abuse of process, breach of contract, and negligence for allowing details of the confidential settlement to leak out.
It asks for general damages, special damages, punitive damages and special relief, each in excess of $50,000, along with interest, attorney fees and court costs.