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Italian giants Juventus have come under fire for statements they made in regards to the recent rape allegations against their new recruit Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese has recently made the headlines for accusations of rape made against him by an American woman.
According to German media outlet DerSpeigel, the woman, identified as Kathryn Mayorga, accused the former Real Madrid man of raping her in a Las Vegas hotel room in June 2009 when he was holidaying with his cousin and brother-in-law.
Kathryn further claimed that the Portuguese ace had paid her $375,000 and forced her to sign a nondisclosure agreement for her silence following the alleged incident.
Ronaldo has since denied the allegations via a statement on his Twitter account. The statement read, "I firmly deny the accusations being issued against me. Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in. Keen as I may be to clear my name, I refuse to feed the media spectacle created by people seeking to promote themselves at my expense."
"My clear conscious will thereby allow me to await with tranquillity the results of any and all investigations."
Ronaldo has reportedly also been left out of the Portugal squad for this year's international games against Poland, Italy and Scotland following an agreement made between the president of the Portuguese Football Federation, Fernando Gomes, and the forward.
Juventus has now broken their silence on the allegations on Thursday, saying that the rape claims made by Mayorga do not change their opinion of the Portuguese striker.
In a Twitter post, Juventus FC said, "Cristiano Ronaldo has shown in recent months his great professionalism and dedication, which is appreciated by everyone at Juventus."
"The events allegedly dating back to almost 10 years ago do not change this opinion, which is shared by anyone who has come into contact with this great champion."
The club later posted a video on YouTube and Twitter showing Ronaldo training with his teammates at in Turin.
The caption read, "Juventus go for goal. Cristiano Ronaldo finds the target!"
Juventus’s tweets have also been criticized by fans who took to social media to brand the club's actions as "shockingly dismissive and insensitive".
