Cristiano Ronaldo left off Portugal team for upcoming matches amid rape allegation

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Soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has been left off the Portugal national team for their upcoming matches amid a resurfaced rape allegation against him.

Ronaldo was accused of rape by Kathryn Mayorga, who claimed the player assaulted her in Las Vegas in 2009. He has vehemently denied the accusation.

The Portuguese captain, who has been capped a record 154 times for his country, was left off the team for their second game in the UEFA Nations League at Poland on Oct. 11 and a friendly match against Scotland in Glasgow on Oct. 14. He will also not be called up for international games in November, Portugal coach Fernando Santos said.

Santos said the decision to leave Ronaldo off the national team came after a discussion between him, Ronaldo and the chief of the Portuguese soccer federation, Fernando Gomes.

RONALDO SLAMS LAS VEGAS WOMAN’S RAPE ACCUSATION AS ‘FAKE NEWS’

“We agreed the player wouldn’t be available, wouldn’t be an option for selection,” Santos said. “For the next two squad selections, this one and the one next month, Ronaldo won’t be with us.”

Santos said he would play again for Portugal eventually.

FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018 filer, Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo, center, is flanked by his girlfriend Georgina, left, and his son Cristiano Jr, as he sits in the stands during a Champions League, group H soccer match between Juventus and Young Boys, at the Allianz stadium in Turin, Italy.

FILE – In this Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018 filer, Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo, center, is flanked by his girlfriend Georgina, left, and his son Cristiano Jr, as he sits in the stands during a Champions League, group H soccer match between Juventus and Young Boys, at the Allianz stadium in Turin, Italy. (AP)

Ronaldo had been under fire since Mayorga went public with her claim that the 33-year-old superstar raped her. Ronaldo called the accusation “fake news” in an Instagram Live recording Sunday.

Mayorga, 34, of Las Vegas, claims Ronaldo raped her in a bathroom at the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in June 2009, The Sun reported.

She claims in the court papers that Ronaldo apologized to her after he raped her, according to the Sun.

“I can’t remember exactly what he said but he said sorry, asking if I had pain, the paper quoted her as saying in the court document. “Then he went down on his knees and said: ‘99% of me is a good guy, I just don’t know about the other 1%.’”

She said she filed a rape report with Las Vegas police the next day, according to the paper.

The documents claim Ronaldo confirmed the pair had sex, but said it was consensual, the paper reported.

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Reuters reported Saturday that Ronaldo’s lawyers are threatening to sue German magazine Der Spiegel for publishing Mayorga’s graphic allegations. The article ran Friday.

One of the lawyers said the Der Siegel article was “an inadmissible reporting of suspicions in the area of privacy,” Reuters reported.

Reuters quoted the magazine and Mayorga’s attorney, Leslie Stovall, as saying that woman signed a confidentiality agreement in exchange for a $375,000 payment from Ronaldo.

Fox News generally does not name sex assault victims, but Mayorga gave her name to Der Spiegel for her interview, and she is named as the plaintiff in the court papers filed in Las Vegas.

The 31-page lawsuit accuses Ronaldo and the other named defendants of participating in a “conspiracy to obstruct the criminal investigation and prosecution of Cristiano Ronaldo” for the alleged sexual assault, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported Saturday.

The Sun quoted Stovall as saying that he filed the lawsuit seeking to declare the confidential agreement void.

Mayorga did not answer telephone calls to her home, Reuters reported.

Ronaldo plays for Italian powerhouse Juventus and had three assists in a win Saturday.

Fox News’ Robert Gearty and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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