Ronaldo's lawyer, Christian Schertz, said his team will pursue damages as a result of a story he called "blatantly illegal."
Cristiano Ronaldo's lawyers are threatening to sue German magazine Der Spiegel after it published accusations from an American woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by the soccer player in a Las Vegas penthouse suite in 2009. Ronaldo's lawyer, Christian Schertz, said his team will pursue damages as a result of a story he called "blatantly illegal."
Schertz released the following statement, via Gestifute:
Following the current Spiegel reporting on our client Cristiano Ronaldo, we hereby declare the following: The reporting in Spiegel is blatantly illegal. It violates the personal rights of our client Cristiano Ronaldo in an exceptionally serious way. This is an inadmissible reporting of suspicions in the area of privacy. It would therefore already be unlawful to reproduce this reporting. We have been instructed to immediately assert all existing claims under press law against Spiegel, in particular compensation 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.
On Friday, a civil lawsuit was filed in Clark County against Ronaldo, alleging he sexually assaulted a woman in 2009. The lawsuit was filed by Leslie Mark Stovall, lawyer for complainant Kathryn Mayorga.
Mayorga spoke with Der Spiegel and provided a detailed account of the 2009 incident. Stovall told the German publication that the two reached a settlement and non-disclosure agreement in exchange for $375,000.
"[Mayorga] was sexually assaulted in June 2009 by an individual named Cristiano Ronaldo," Stovall said in a video by Der Spiegel.
Ronaldo appeared to respond quickly to the allegations in an Instagram video.
"It's fake, fake news," he said. "They want to promote by my name. It's normal. They want to be famous to say my name. Yeah, but it is part of the job. I'm a happy man, and all good."
This story was originally published on CBS News on Oct. 1, 2018, at 9:20 a.m. PT.