Cristiano Ronaldo Dismisses Rape Allegations as 'Fake News'
Cristiano Ronaldo appears to have dismissed rape allegations made in a German newspaper over the weekend, speaking in a video on his Instagram account.
The Juventus forward's lawyers are preparing to take legal action against German newspaper Der Spiegel after they published 'blatantly illegal' allegations from an American woman that she was raped by the Portugal international in 2009.
Der Spiegel initially reported on the allegations last year when Football Leaks claimed to have released details of the alleged incident, before Kathryn Mayorga, 34, spoke to them for the story released over the weekend.
Speaking on an Instagram Live video on last week, Ronaldo - appearing to respond to a question posed by a fan - said: "No, no, no, no, no. What they said today? Fake, fake news. They want to promote [themselves by using] my name. It’s normal. They want to be famous to say my name, but it is part of the job. I am a happy man and all good."
Ronaldo's solicitor Professor Dr Christian Schertz said: “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.”
