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Protest Expected Ahead Of Cristiano Ronaldo's Return Over Unresolved Legal Case

Protest Expected Ahead Of Cristiano Ronaldo's Return Over Unresolved Legal Case

Ronaldo's first game back against Newcastle United will be preceded by protests over an unresolved legal case regarding rape allegations.

Cristiano Ronaldo's return to the Premier League, when Manchester United face Newcastle United, won't be met by universal approval, with protests expected.

Ronaldo's move back to United, 12 years after leaving the club for Real Madrid, has caused lots of excitement, especially by United fans of course.

The shirt sales for the 36-year-old have been through the roof, with claims that they have already reached £187 million and seen him become the highest selling player for shirts this season.

He will make his first appearance in the league on Saturday afternoon, although Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hasn't confirmed whether or not it will be from the start, but not everyone is happy about it.

According to the Daily Mail, there are expected to be protests outside Old Trafford, with the hope of 'shifting attention' towards the player's unresolved legal case over rape allegations in the US.

Fans inside the stadium are likely to welcome Ronaldo in a big way on Saturday. Image: PA Images
Fans inside the stadium are likely to welcome Ronaldo in a big way on Saturday. Image: PA Images

The allegations against the forward stem from June 2009, which is when he moved from United to Real, from American woman Kathryn Mayorga.

They have been denied by the Portugal player as 'fake news' and his team have dismissed the idea that the £270,000 out-of-court settlement was any 'confession of guilt.'

The news was first reported by Der Spiegel in 2017, as part of the Football Leaks series, and the allegations were reinvestigated by Las Vegas Police a year later.

That investigation decided that the allegations could not "be proven beyond reasonable doubt," and so the former Juventus forward would not face criminal charges.

However Mayorga, who has said she was 'mentally incapacitated,' when signing a non-disclosure agreement when she accepted the out of court settlement, has since brought a civil lawsuit against the player, worth a reported £56 million.

Mayorga didn't give the name of her alleged assailant when she originally reported the incident to the police, due to being fearful of the public reaction.

Speaking in 2018, Ronaldo's lawyer Peter Christiansen claimed documents, that Der Spiegel alleged to have seen about the incident, were "completely fabricated."

"Once again, for the avoidance of doubt, Cristiano Ronaldo’s position has always been, and continues to be, that what happened in 2009 in Las Vegas was completely consensual," Christiansen said.

Featured Image Credit: ManUtd/PA

Topics: Football, Premier League, Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo