Anti-bullying organization 'unhappy' about Cristiano Ronaldo's ICC game in Stockholm amid rape allegations

What's the story?

An anti-bullying organization which has given its name to the Swedish National Arena in Stockholm is "unhappy" that Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo and his team were invited to play in the city for the ICC Cup.

In case you didn't know...

Last year, Ronaldo made the headlines for accusations of rape made against him by an American woman named Kathryn Mayorga, who claimed that the former Real Madrid star raped her in a Las Vegas hotel while on holiday with his cousin and brother-in-law.

Mayorga further alleged that the Portuguese superstar made her sign a non-disclosure agreement and gave her $375,000 in return for her silence.

Ronaldo has since denied the allegations on Twitter and interviews, with new club Juventus backing him from the start. The Las Vegas police, however, reopened an investigation into the case last year.

The heart of the matter

The organization, Friends, has now expressed its dismay at the prospect of being linked to such a "serious crime, stating that they are unhappy that Ronaldo has been invited to play in the capital city.

Juventus are scheduled to play Atletico Madrid in the ICC Cup in Stockholm on August 10.

Speaking to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet (via The Guardian), Lovisa Lönnebo, communications officer at Friends said, "We are extremely unhappy that Friends is being linked with accusations of such a serious crime."

"Sexual crimes and sexual abuse is something we at Friends are working actively against all the time and we have done that for a long time. We can’t decide what happens in the stadium but we are extremely unhappy about being linked with this."

The organization even plans on letting the ICC know about their feelings. "We will make it clear to them how problematic it is for us, with the values we have, to be linked with these kinds of accusations. They are a massive organization and they probably don’t know about us but we think it is really important to make our feelings clear and make a stand."

What's next?

As the international break is over, Juventus, who are at the top of the Serie A table, will face Empoli later tonight.