Cristiano Ronaldo’s ex-girlfriend leaps to his defence amid rape accusations

CRISTIANO Ronaldo’s model ex-girlfriend has said she would be willing to defend the “perfect gent” in court over rape claims.

Nereida Gallardo stated the footballer “was always a gentleman” during their eight month relationship — and was stunned at the allegations levelled against him, The Sun reports.

Ronaldo, 33, has been accused of raping Kathryn Mayorga, 34, in a Las Vegas hotel in 2009, but the athlete has denied any attack and said the sex was consensual.

Gallardo has since spoken out, saying she was so sure of his innocence that she would testify for him in court.

The 35-year-old told The Mirror: “He was a courteous guy — warm and loving. He was always a gentleman with me.

“Cristiano treated me well while I was with him.

“He was never ever aggressive towards me — not even near. I can’t see him forcing or holding down someone. He is not an aggressive guy in bed.

“I’ve had partners who have been verbally aggressive or who liked to grab me hard and he isn’t like that.”

Gallardo added: “So far I haven’t been contacted. But if I am, I would be willing to go and give evidence in his favour.”

Alleged victim Mayorga went to the police at the time of the claimed attack, and later reportedly accepted a settlement of $AUD525,000 from Ronaldo and signed a gagging order.

But she has filed court papers to overturn it and recently spoke to the city’s police force.

A statement from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said: “The case has been reopened and our detectives are following up on information being provided by the victim.

“At the time the report was taken, the victim did not provide detectives with the location of the incident or suspect description. A medical exam was conducted.”

Ronaldo’s lawyers said documents which claim to show Ronaldo acknowledging he had sex with Kathryn Mayorga without her consent had 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 Der Spiegal published an interview with accuser Kathryn Mayorga and documents which allege Ronaldo agreed to pay her as part of a non-disclosure agreement in 2010.

Mr Christiansen said the Portuguese forward faced “an elaborate and deliberate defamation campaign based on stolen, easily manipulated digital documents”.

Speaking to the press this week, Ronaldo defended himself and said his “lawyers are confident” and “the truth is always coming”.

“I know I am an example, I know 100 per cent, in the pitch and outside the pitch,” Ronaldo said. “I am not going to lie on the situation. I am very happy. My lawyers are confident and of course I am too.

“I enjoy football, my life. The rest, I have people who take care of my life and, of course, the truth is always coming in a first position, so I’m good.”

Ronaldo made another winning return to Old Trafford as Paulo Dybala gave Juventus a 1-0 win over Manchester United in the Champions League on Wednesday (AEST).

Dybala’s 17th-minute goal, a simple conversion after a low cross from the right by former United favourite Ronaldo, proved decisive but the Italian champions could have returned home with a much more convincing margin. United’s Spanish keeper David De Gea made a series of good saves including an excellent effort to keep out a second-half strike from Ronaldo.

Paul Pogba struck the post with a left-foot effort from outside the box in the 75th minute but Jose Mourinho’s side struggled to create openings against a superb Juve defence.

United defender Luke Shaw said they allowed Juventus too much time on the ball in the first half.

“I think first half we gave them too much respect, coming here to Old Trafford, I think we let them play far too easy,” Shaw told BT Sport. “That cost us the goal.”

Shaw’s teammate Victor Lindelof believed United were worthy of at least a point. “We played against a very good team with very good players, it was a tough game but I think we deserved better than to lose.”

— with AAP

This story first appeared on The Sun and was republished with permission