Nike Expresses Deep Concern Over Cristiano Ronaldo Rape Allegation

Ronaldo has a lucrative deal with Nike and they have said it is "deeply concerned" by rape allegations against the five-time Balon d’Or winner.



The Associated Press reports revealed that, the US sportswear giant - which has a reported contract worth $1bn (£768m) with Ronaldo - said it would "continue to closely monitor the situation"

Another company that also has a contract with Ronaldo, EA Sports, made similar comments.

The 33-year-old Ronaldo earlier denied assaulting Kathryn Mayorga at a Las Vegas hotel in 2009 and described the allegation as “fake news”.

The 34-year-old former US teacher, Ms Mayorga, was reported to have been inspired to speak out by the #MeToo movement, her lawyer revealed.

Leslie Stovall said: "The MeToo movement and the women who have stood up and disclosed sexual assaults has given Kathryn a lot of courage,"

Words from Nike and EA Sports?

In a statement released by Nike: "We are deeply concerned by the disturbing allegations and will continue to closely monitor the situation."

EA Sports said: "We have seen the concerning report that details allegations against Cristiano Ronaldo.

"We are closely monitoring the situation, as we expect cover athletes and ambassadors to conduct themselves in a manner that is consistent with EA's values."

In a totally different development, the Italian giant, Juventus - the club Ronaldo joined from Real Madrid for £99.2m in July - has come out in defence of their star player.

On their official twitter handle, Juventus said: "Cristiano Ronaldo has shown in recent months his great professionalism and dedication, which is appreciated by everyone at Juventus."

How did Ronaldo respond?

The former Real Madrid legend had previously termed the allegation, reported first by German magazine Der Spiegel, as "fake news".

Cristiano Ronaldo issued a statement through his Twitter account on Wednesday: “I firmly deny the accusations being issued against me. 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.”

“My clear conscious will thereby allow me to await with tranquillity the results of any and all investigations.”

The German magazine reported that, Ms Mayorga, 34, filed a report with Las Vegas police immediately after the alleged incident.

She reportedly reached an out-of-court settlement with Ronaldo with a $375,000 payment not to ever go public with the allegations in 2010.

Her lawyers want to declare the non-disclosure agreement void.

In a lawsuit, Ms Mayorga says the Portuguese man raped her in his penthouse suite when she met Ronaldo at the Rain Nightclub in the Palms Hotel and Casino.

Since the alleged assault, almost a decade ago, her lawyer claimed his client had suffered from major depression and considered suicide.

He said Ms Mayorga had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder by a psychiatrist .

Las Vegas police confirmed to have investigated a complaint in June 2009, but said they had no suspect in the case.

"When the report was taken, the victim did not provide detectives with necessary information like the location of the incident or suspect identity,"

"The case has been reopened as of September, 2018 and our detectives are working on information provided.”