Cristiano Ronaldo has been left out of Portugal’s squad for upcoming friendlies against Poland and Scotland.
Portugal faces Poland on October 11 and Scotland three days later, but will be without its most-capped player, who has been accused of raping Kathryn Mayorga in a Las Vegas hotel room in 2009.
Ronaldo released a statement on Wednesday denying the charges, which allege that the Juventus star raped Mayorga while she repeatedly screamed no, according to a lawsuit filed in Clark County, Nevada, last week.
“I firmly deny the accusations being issued against me,” Ronaldo wrote on Twitter. “Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in.”
Las Vegas police have re-opened the complaint made by Mayorga, who is said to be suffering “psychological” damage from the incident.
Meanwhile Portuguese Football Federation president Fernando Gomes has given his “total solidarity” towards Ronaldo as “his good name and reputation are being questioned.”
“I believe in the words issue yesterday, not only because I defend the presumption of innocent as a basic principle of a state of law, but also because I have known Ronaldo for many years and I am a witness to his good character,” said Gomes in a statement.
Attorney Larissa Drohobyczer of Stovall & Associates, the law firm representing Mayorga, told reporters in Las Vegas on Wednesday that her client shows signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a psychiatrist hired by Stovall.
Mayorga’s lawsuit accuses Ronaldo and his team of taking advantage of Mayorga’s fragile emotional state to coerce her into signing a settlement and nondisclosure agreement in 2009.
She claims she received $375,000 in exchange for her silence. Her lawsuit seeks to void the settlement and agreement.
“We believe we have the factual basis to ask the court to set aside the agreement so we can litigate … for damages,” Leslie Stovall, Mayorga’s co-counsel, said at the news conference.
Ronaldo hasn’t played for Portugal since its defeat to Uruguay at the World Cup, missing games against Italy and Croatia in September.
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He is next due to play for his club Juventus against Udinese on Saturday. He missed Tuesday’s Champions League victory over Young Boys following his red card against Valencia.
