- Alex Morgan says she believes there is "too much evidence to cover up" the rape allegations made against Cristiano Ronaldo.
- Kathryn Mayorga accused Ronaldo of raping her in a Las Vegas hotel in 2009. However, he will not face criminal charges.
- Ronaldo has repeatedly denied the allegations, and said that the case against him led to 2018 being the worst year of his life.
- Soccer star Morgan recently told Sports Illusrated: "When you look at this story in particular, I think there's too much evidence to cover up. And I think at the end of the day money helps put stories down."
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Alex Morgan says she believes there is "too much evidence to cover up" the rape allegations made against Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of their potential meeting in Milan on September 23.
Ronaldo has repeatedly denied Kathryn Mayorga's accusation that he raped her in a Las Vegas hotel in 2009. He will not face criminal charges after the district attorney's office in Las Vegas ruled that the allegations could not "be proven beyond a reasonable doubt."
Soccer star Morgan has formerly passed indirect comment on the case via social media, tweeting (and eventually deleting) a VICE article about the Portuguese star titled "Ronaldo is an icon of corruption in sports" alongside the caption: "Now this is great journalism."
But the Orlando Pride forward has now addressed the accusations directly ahead of this month's Best FIFA Football Awards 2019, where she and Ronaldo are both nominated for the top two prizes.
"I don't anticipate approaching [Ronaldo] any differently than I would approach anyone else who I meet [in Milan]," Morgan recently told Sports Illustrated.
However, she added: "I do think that a lot of times in today's climate women have spoken up, and it's important to support those women. And I think a lot of people right now are questioning who is right and who is wrong.
"When you look at this story in particular, I think there's too much evidence to cover up and I think at the end of the day money helps put stories down.
"The charges were dropped, so he can and does continue playing."
She added: "What he does as a job and him entertaining people on the football field has nothing to do with who he might be as a person or the actions that he may have taken.
"For me, it just kind of taught me that although I'm still going to continue to stay true to what I feel in my heart and speaking up about important issues, it was really difficult to go through people having so much hatred with really understanding the story."
The allegations against Ronaldo came to light in April 2017 when German website Spiegel published "Cristiano Ronaldo's Secret," which detailed the alleged rape.
The piece named the alleged victim as Kathryn Mayorga, and claimed that Ronaldo had paid her $375,000 to settle a sexual assault claim.
Ronaldo's lawyers have since confirmed a sexual encounter occurred that night, but said it was "consensual." They have also confirmed the payment of money to Mayorga "to maintain the confidentiality of their dispute."
Speaking last month on Portuguese television channel TVI, Ronaldo said the allegations, which he strenuously denies, made 2018 the worst year of his life.
Morgan is up for "Best Women's Player" at FIFA's upcoming awards night in Milan, while Ronaldo has been nominated for "Best Men's Player."
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