Ronaldo trying to 'block' police files from rape case going public

Cristiano Ronaldo is embroiled in a battle with The New York Times (NYT) to prevent public disclosure of the file from the rape allegations case made against him, according to reports.

The Athletic claims the American newspaper is attempting to access the case file held by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD).

Ronaldo had been accused by former model Kathryn Mayorga of raping her in 2009 in a hotel room in the Nevada city, something he has always denied.

These claims were settled out of court 11 years ago after the LVMPD did not pursue the case, with Mayorga receiving £375,000 from the Manchester United and Portugal striker.

The alleged incident was not public at the time of the settlement, but in 2017 Der Spiegel published an article revealing the accusation and subsequent agreement between the two parties.

The German website claimed to have obtained the documents from Football Leaks, a whistleblower outlet known for sharing confidential information.

In 2018, Mayorga sought to have the settlement overturned as she argued it was signed while under duress. Her legal counsel, Leslie Stovall, contacted Football Leaks for "privileged documents", a magistrate judge wrote earlier this year.

Stovall sent these documents to LVMPD and Mayorga demanded £56million in damages and costs through a Las Vegas court.

But the judge recommended the civil rape case against Ronaldo be thrown out in October this year due to Stovall's action to obtain these "privileged documents".

Magistrate judge Daniel Albregts sided with Ronaldo's legal team, who argued the civil complaint relied on information obtained from allegedly stolen papers, which continue to be held in the case file.

These 200 documents are the root of a fresh dispute between Ronaldo and the NYT, with the newspaper submitting a request earlier this year claiming there is an obligation to release them to the public under the Nevada Public Records Act.

LVMPD wrote to Ronaldo's attorney in November saying they would disclose the file, and they received a reply on the same day.

The response claimed the file "contains documents provided to Metro (LVMPD) by the alleged victim's current lawyer, which are privileged, attorney-client communications and work product that opposing counsel should never have had in the first place".

LVMPD's outside counsel, Jackie Nichols, did not reply for comment when asked by The Athletic if the files would be turned over to the NYT, who have previously pursued many First Amendment battles to obtain information held by a government body.