Cristiano Ronaldo’s lawyers claim rape allegation documents have been altered
LAWYERS for Cristiano Ronaldo have said that documents which claim to show Ronaldo acknowledging he had sex with Kathryn Mayorga without her consent have been altered.
In a statement, lawyer Peter S Christiansen has said the documents are "pure invention" and have been fabricated by hackers.
The lawyer's claims come after German magazine with accuser Kathryn Mayorga and documents which allege Ronaldo agreed to pay her £287,000 as part of a non-disclosure agreement in 2010.
Ronaldo, 33, denies raping Kathryn Mayorga, 34, in a Las Vegas hotel in 2009 and maintains the sex was consensual.
Mr Christiansen said the Portuguese forward faced "an elaborate and deliberate defamation campaign based on stolen, easily manipulated digital documents".
In a issued through Ronaldo's representatives, Mr Christiansen said: "The documents that allegedly contain statements by Cristiano Ronaldo and were reproduced in the media are pure inventions."
Mr Christiansen added: "In 2015 dozens of entities (including law firms) in different parts of Europe were attacked and saw a lot of information on their electronic equipment being stolen by a hacker.
"This hacker then tried to sell such information, having now a media outlet, irresponsibly publishing some of the stolen documents, significant parts of which were altered and/or completely forged.
"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."
He said that "given the breach of that agreement by the other side and the inflammatory accusations that have been lodged in the ensuing days Ronaldo feels compelled to no longer stand silent".
He said that while 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.
Mr Christiansen said that Ronaldo is "confident that the truth will survive this frenzy and the laws of Nevada will be upheld and enforced".
In a statement, Der Spiegel said they "stand by their reporting" and said their story is "carefully researched".
"We have hundreds of documents from different sources that substantiate our reporting. We have no reason to believe that those documents are not authentic.
"Furthermore, as always and before publishing every single article, we have meticulously fact-checked our information and had it legally reviewed."
Kathryn Mayorga claims the £100million Juventus star raped her in a Las Vegas hotel room in 2009 when she was 25 and working in Rain nightclub inside the Palms Casino Resort.
Mayorga, who is now 34, alleges that Ronaldo agreed to pay her £287,000 to stop her pursuing criminal charges and gagged her from going public. Her lawyers are now trying to overturn that alleged settlement.
Ronaldo has maintained his innocence throughout, writing on Twitter on October 3: "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."
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