"Superstar footballer Cristiano Ronaldo is to visit the White House on Tuesday, a US official has confirmed - the same day as the leader of Saudi Arabia where the Portuguese currently plays the game. The White House official did not say Ronaldo was part of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's official delegation. However his starring role in the Saudi football league has seen him become a face of the country's modernisation drive under the crown prince,"
"Kathryn Mayorga alleged that Ronaldo raped her in a Las Vegas hotel room in 2009, which he denied. "I firmly deny the accusations being issued against me. Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in," he said in a statement in 2018. In 2019, US prosecutors said Ronaldo would not face charges because the claims could not be proven."
Cristiano Ronaldo is scheduled to visit the White House on the same day as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, though he is not confirmed as part of the crown prince's official delegation. Ronaldo's prominent role in the Saudi Pro League has made him a face of Saudi Arabia's modernisation and economic diversification efforts into sports and tourism. He joined Al Nassr in early 2023, a club owned by sovereign wealth fund PIF chaired by the crown prince. Ronaldo has faced a historical sexual assault allegation from 2009, which he denied, and US prosecutors declined to press charges in 2019. His Saudi contracts reportedly made him football's first billionaire.
Read at www.bbc.com
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