Cristiano Ronaldo dismisses claims he raped woman in Las Vegas hotel as ‘fake news’

'No, no, no, no, no. What they said today? Fake, fake news,' says Portugeuse superstar

Cristiano Ronaldo has denied claims he raped an American woman in 2009 - dismissing the allegations as “fake news”.

The Juventus and Portugal superstar's lawyers have also issued a vehement denial.

The 33-year-old smiled into the camera in an Instagram live video as he dismissed the allegations.

"No, no, no, no, no. What they said today? Fake, fake news,” he said.

"They want to promote 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.”

Kathryn Mayorga, 34, told German magazine Der Spiegel that she was attacked by Ronaldo - who was then playing for Real Madrid - in a Las Vegas hotel room. Ronaldo was on holiday in the US at the time with his cousin and brother-in-law.

Ms Mayorga told the publication the pair had spent the evening socialising before he raped her in the hotel.

After the alleged incident, she claimed Ronaldo fell to his knees and said he was "99 per cent a good guy" who was let down by the "one per cent".

Later, Ronaldo allegedly paid her $375,000 as an out-of-court settlement.

The Portuguese superstar denies the allegations - which first emerged on the Football Leaks website in April 2017 - and maintains the sex was consensual.

His lawyers, Schertz Bergmann Rechtsanwälte, have released a statement categorically denying the claims.

They branded Der Spiegel's report "blatantly illegal" and said they would be pursuing "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”.