October 17 – The German magazine which broke the story of a rape allegation made against Cristiano Ronaldo says it stands by its report despite the player’s lawyers describing the claims as “complete fabrication.”
Ronaldo has vehemently denied assaulting Kathryn Mayorga at a Las Vegas hotel in 2009 and a statement from his lawyer Peter Christiansen charged last week that “media outlet irresponsibly” based its reports on “stolen and easily manipulated digital documents” of which “significant parts were altered and/or completely fabricated”.
But Der Spiegel says it has “no reason” to doubt the authenticity of key documents used in its story.
The weekly magazine says it has “hundreds of documents” that substantiate its report adding: “We stand by our reporting. We have no reason to believe that those documents are not authentic. As always and before publishing every single article in Der Spiegel, we have meticulously fact-checked our information and had it legally reviewed.”
Mayorga filed a lawsuit late last month in Nevada saying she was raped by Ronaldo. Police have also re-opened an investigation even though in 201, Mayorga reached an-out-of court settlement with Ronaldo. She is reported to have received $375,000 in return for remaining silent. Mayorga has explained that the #MeToo movement inspired her to come out with her story and she is suing Ronaldo in civil court.
The documents referred to by Christiansen were ultimately shared by the website Football Leaks with Der Spiegel, who went on to establish Mayorga’s identity and encouraged her to share her story. Their 9,000-word interview, published two weeks ago, contained details of the documents.
In its statement, Der Spiegel added: “The statement that was issued by Peter Christiansen on behalf of Cristiano Ronaldo presents the usual path that Mr Ronaldo and his lawyers have taken in the past when unsuccessfully fighting our investigative work.”
“Before publishing our story about the rape accusations, we gave Mr Ronaldo and his lawyers the opportunity to respond to the allegations.
“They could have disputed the facts that we presented to them. They did not do that. In no way did they claim that parts of our information were ‘pure inventions’. One of his lawyers threatened to sue us for publishing because he said that we infringed Mr Ronaldo’s personal rights. So far, we have not received anything in this regard.
“Only Kathryn Mayorga and Cristiano Ronaldo know the truth about the incident that occurred on June 13, 2009. It’s not our job to judge. What we do is to report. We tell both sides of the story.
“The responsible authorities of Nevada will determine the following steps in this process. So far, of course the presumption of innocence applies to Mr Ronaldo.”
Mayorga’s lawyers have now called for any documents to be handed over to “the appropriate law enforcement agencies” to help resolve any discrepancies.
A statement from Las Vegas law firm Stovall and Associates said: “We look forward to reviewing any evidence that tends to prove, as Mr Ronaldo’s lawyer asserts, that some of the ‘Football Leaks’ documents were altered, fabricated, or contain false/inaccurate information.”
Ronaldo was left out of Portugal’s squad for their recent fixtures against Poland and Scotland but continues to have the full support of both club and country.
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