Cristiano Ronaldo’s lawyers return to court TODAY over a new legal battle with his Las Vegas rape accuser – with the woman seeking millions more in hush money after he paid her £275,000 in 2010
- Kathryn Mayorga accused Cristiano Ronaldo of raping her in Las Vegas in 2009
- The footballer denied the claims before paying her £275,000 in hush money
- Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast ‘It all starts!’
Lawyers for a woman who accused Cristiano Ronaldo of raping her have taken the footballer to court in a bid to receive millions more in hush money.
Kathryn Mayorga, who waived her right to anonymity after claiming Ronaldo raped her in a Las Vegas hotel room in 2009, was paid £275,000 in hush money after the Portuguese player vehemently denied the claims.
Ronaldo’s representatives returned to court on Wednesday to continue a legal battle with the woman’s lawyers, who are trying to force the Al-Nassr star to pay her millions more.
U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey dismissed their lawsuit in June 2022 seeking a higher payout after it emerged that stolen confidential documents had been used by one of the woman’s attorneys.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has now been asked to reverse the dismissal and reopen the civil lawsuit Mayorga initially filed in Nevada in 2018.
Cristiano Ronaldo is facing a new legal battle over the hush money he paid to a rape accuser
Kathryn Mayorga (right) claimed Ronaldo raped her in a Las Vegas hotel room in 2009
Her legal team will argue that their previous attempts to include the confidentiality agreement, which she signed in 2010 after receiving hush money from the football player, were repeatedly and wrongfully rejected by the federal judge.
Ronaldo, who became the world’s highest-paid footballer in history after signing a £177 million-a-year contract with Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr in January, has consistently denied the rape allegations.
In October 2018, he released a statement saying: “I strongly deny the allegations made against me. Rape is a horrible crime that goes against everything I am and believe in.”
Ronaldo’s team, which insists the sexual encounter between him and Mayorga was consensual, claims the confidentiality agreement was signed to prevent either of them from talking about it.
Sources close to Ronaldo claim that the criminal case was dismissed by the Las Vegas district attorney and that both the civil case and Mayorga’s appeal were dismissed by the court.
Mail Sport has contacted Ronaldo’s representatives for comment.
The woman’s legal team wants to receive millions more in hush money from the footballer, who has vehemently denied the allegations and described rape as a ‘heinous crime’.