Cristiano Ronaldo's lawyers are threatening to sue German magazine Der Spiegel after it published detailed and graphic allegations that the Portuguese star raped an American woman in Las Vegas in 2009. Time


A lawsuit filed against Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo alleges he sexually assaulted a woman and obstructed a criminal investigation into what took place inside a Las Vegas hotel room in June 2009.  

Kathryn Mayorga detailed the alleged incident that occurred at a penthouse suite inside the Palms Hotel and Casino  in the Clark County District Court filing Friday. She alleges that Ronaldo entered the bathroom and pulled her into the bedroom where the assault took place. 

“Cristiano Ronaldo turned plaintiff onto her side and while screaming ‘no, no, no’” the civil suit alleges. 

Mayorga alleges she was sodomized by Ronaldo and that resulted in “severe emotional and bodily injuries including but not limited to anal contusions, post-traumatic stress disorder, and major depression.”

The lawsuit follows a report last week by German magazine Der Spiegel that first reported on the allegations before the lawsuit was filed. A spokesperson for Ronaldo called the article “nothing but a piece of journalistic fiction."

Mayorga reported the alleged sexual assault the same day to police and underwent a sexual abuse examination at a local hospital, according to the lawsuit. 

Mayorga claims that both hospital medical staff and a police detective told her she would be “subject of public humiliation as a victim of a sexual assault, and that Cristiano Ronaldo, and individuals associated with him, would further humiliate her by publicly characterizing her as a woman who consented to sexual intercourse and because of his wealth and fame was now attempting to extort money from Cristiano Ronaldo by falsely accusing him of sexual assault.”


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Mayorga’s current lawyer, Leslie Mark Stovall, claims in the lawsuit that Ronaldo “hired a team of ‘fixers, known as ‘personal reputation protection specialists.’”  Those fixers negotiated a $375,000 settlement with Mayorga and “asserted that the settlement and non-disclosure agreement was intended to and did prevent plaintiff, her family, friends and lawyer from speaking to anyone, including the police about the sexual assault.”

A message left with the Las Vegas police late Sunday night by USA TODAY Sports was not immediately returned. 

As part of the lawsuit, Stovall is seeking the invalidate the non-disclosure agreement that was part of the settlement. Beyond Ronaldo, the lawsuit also lists the team of fixers as co-defendants. 

Ronaldo, considered one of the greatest soccer players of all time, has won the Ballon d'Or award (presented annually to the world's best male player) a record-tying five times.


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