It was the summer of 2009, the year Cristiano Ronaldo left Manchester United to join Real Madrid, becoming, in turn, the most expensive player in the world, worth a whopping €94 million.
It was the summer of 2009, the year Cristiano Ronaldo left Manchester United to join Real Madrid, becoming, in turn, the most expensive player in the world, worth a whopping €94 million. Ronaldo denied the allegations in an Instagram live video, calling it 'fake news'.
The incident reportedly took place nine years ago. He has been accused of raping a woman named Kathryn Mayorga who was 25 at that time and worked at a bar in Las Vegas. He allegedly bought her silence for $375,000, the amount he reportedly earned every week at Real Madrid.
1. Who is the victim?
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The victim has now spoken up. Kathyrn Mayorga was born and raised in Las Vegas, suffered from a learning disability and played softball and soccer in her youth.
The incident, according to a report in Der Spiegel took place on June 12, 2009, in a Las Vegas nightclub. Ronaldo was there on vacation with his brother-in-law and cousin. Their pictures together went viral around the world at the time and gossip pages tried to figure out her identity.
Pic Source: AFP
2. We have proof: Der Spiegel
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When the first article appeared, Ronaldo’s agency had called the exchange ‘journalistic fiction’. However, Der Spiegel, a weekly news magazine, says it has documents to prove its allegations.
The report states that Mayorga signed a non-disclosure agreement which her current lawyer believes is not legally binding. The documents include Ronaldo’s statement in which he admits to rape stating: "She said no and stop several times."
3. Me Too
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A lot has changed since 2009. With accusations against American producer Harvey Weinstein, #MeToo has become a global campaign and sexual assault can no longer be hidden, irrespective of the stature of the accused.
4. The night of horror
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Mayorga revealed meeting Ronaldo that night and that he took her to a penthouse for a party. There he handed her clothes and while she was changing, walked in with his penis hanging and asked her to ‘touch it’.
5. ‘Don’t have AIDS’
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She agreed to kiss him but nothing else. But after the kiss, he tried to grab her even as she kept saying no. According to her account, he went on to rape her anally without a lubricant and then assured her he didn’t have HIV/AIDS.
6. Medical Report
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Even her medical reports claim that the patient’s rectum was penetrated, and that ejaculation had happened in the assailant’s hand.
Mayorga had a problem, even though she wanted justice she didn’t want to go public. Her former lawyer had proposed clearing up the matter out-of-court.
She used to work at a bar and Ronaldo’s legal team tried to discredit her by claiming she didn’t have a ‘good girl’ job.
Pic Source: AFP
7. ‘She said no’
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Der Spiegel says it has documents in which Ronaldo is referred to as X and Mayorga as C. In one of the documents, X states: “She said no and stop several times."
In the document, X says that she was lying on her side. "I entered her from behind. It was rude. We didn't change position. 5/7 minutes. She said that she didn't want to, but she made herself available. But she kept saying 'No.' 'Don't do it.' 'I'm not like the others.' I apologized afterwards."
The legal team would later get detectives to follow her and tried to paint her as an alcoholic, not in her senses.
8. Victim shaming
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The legal team would later get detectives to follow her and tried to paint her as an alcoholic, not in her senses.
One of the detectives' notes states: “Mayorga was drinking red wine. She had over three (3) glasses of wine."
Even Mayorga had noticed that she was being followed. Her brother remembers the day of the mediation, explaining how Ronaldo’s room was full of lawyers ‘laughing and joking’ while his sister was in another room crying.
Pic Source: AFP
9. Out-of-court settlement
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They finally settled on $375,000, the amount Ronaldo earned per week in his new contract at Real Madrid. The final out-of-court settlement included 11 clauses including one which stated that she could never talk about it again.
She also wrote a letter to Ronaldo, which Der Spiegel accessed, in which she wrote: "I screamed NO NO NO NO NO NOOOO over and over I begged you to stop. You jumped on me from behind," she writes, "with a white rosary on your neck!! What would God think of that!!! What would God think of you!!!" "I hope you realize what you have done and learned from this terrible mistake!! Don't take another woman's life as you did mine!!"
"I don't care about your money that was the last thing I wanted!! I wanted justice! There really is 'no justice' in this case."
Pic Source: AFP
10. Ronaldo’s team on allegations
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Schertz said he would seek compensation from Der Spiegel for "moral damages in an amount corresponding to the gravity of the infringement, which is probably one of the most serious violations of personal rights in recent years."
The magazine's Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Alfred Weinzierl, told Reuters that Der Spiegel had repeatedly written to Ronaldo's management and lawyers about the allegations before publishing its report.
"We sent written questions, to which there were no answers. Nobody sued us in connection with earlier Ronaldo reports," he said in an email.
Mayorga told Der Spiegel she no longer felt bound by the non-disclosure agreement as she suffers from the consequences of the night nine years ago.
"I've had like these serious breakdowns," she told the magazine. "And again, blaming of the rape. And I blame him, and I blame myself for signing that thing."
11. Ronaldo’s reaction: FAKE NEWS
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The footballer has called the report a fake news.
"No, no, no, no, no. What they said today? Fake, fake news. They want to promote [themselves by using] my name. It’s normal. They want to be famous to say my name, but it is part of the job. I am a happy man and all good," the Juventus star was quoted as saying by Mirror.co.uk.
Pic Source: AFP
