Cristiano Ronaldo's newly-appointed Las Vegas lawyer has labelled allegations of rape against the Juventus forward as "complete fabrications" and said what occurred was "consensual in nature".
Ronaldo is being sued by a woman in the United States, who claims he raped her in the penthouse suite of a Las Vegas hotel in 2009.
The Portugal international, 33, has firmly denied the allegations, saying it “goes against everything that I am and believe in”.
The woman also alleges the former Manchester United player dispatched a team of "fixers" to obstruct the criminal investigation and trick her into keeping quiet for $375,000 (€325,000).
Speaking to reporters in Nevada last week, lawyer Leslie Stovall said the woman suffers from depression and post-traumatic stress linked to the alleged incident, and was encouraged to launch legal action after seeing others do the same as part of the #MeToo movement.
Ronaldo was left out of Portugal’s squad for their forthcoming matches against Poland and Scotland, but continues to have the full support of both club and country.
On Wednesday, Nevada attorney Peter S Christiansen issued a lengthy statement in response to the “inflammatory accusations” lodged against his client.
“To be clear, Mr Ronaldo vehemently denies all of the allegations in the complaint and has consistently maintained that denial for the last nine years,” Christiansen said on gestifute.com.
“The documents which purportedly contain statements by Mr Ronaldo and have been reported in the media are complete fabrications.”
Christiansen added material “irresponsibly published” from “stolen documents” included large sections which were “altered and/or completely fabricated”.
The statement continued: “To absolve any doubt, Mr Ronaldo has always maintained, as he does today, that what occurred in 2009 in Las Vegas was consensual in nature.
“While Mr Ronaldo does not deny the existence of the mutual agreement and release, his motivations for agreeing to that resolution have been twisted to say the least.
“Far from any admission of guilt or any ulterior motive, Mr Ronaldo was advised to privately resolve the allegations against him in order to avoid the inevitable attempts that are now being made to destroy a reputation that has been built upon hard work, athleticism and honour.
“Unfortunately, he now finds himself embroiled in the type of litigation that is all too commonplace in America.”
Christiansen’s statement concluded: “Mr Ronaldo will leave future discussion of any and all legal matters to his attorneys here and in Europe.
“He is confident that the truth will survive this frenzy and the laws of Nevada will be upheld and enforced.”
Ronaldo was suspended for the recent Champions League tie against Swiss side Young Boys, but returned to action for the Serie A leaders against Udinese on Saturday, scoring in the 2-0 victory.
Meanwhile, US sportswear firm Nike, which reportedly has a €879million commercial deal with Ronaldo, said in a statement that it is “deeply concerned by the disturbing allegations” and “will continue to closely monitor the situation”.
