Cristiano Ronaldo's prosecution for rape was brought to federal court, Mayorga lawyer says

Several media reported Wednesday morning that the charges brought by Kathryn Mayorga, who alleges that Ronaldo had raped her in 2009, had been "quietly withdrawn", suggesting that the case was over.

But Larissa Drohobyczer, who is one of Mayorga's lawyers, told ESPN that the change of venue was simply a response to the difficulty that the lawyers had in serving Ronaldo, who lives in Italy, with notice of the trial.

"The charges have not been dropped," Drohobyczer told ESPN. "The state case was filed by us because we filed the same applications in federal court because of the rules of the latter relating to the service of foreigners." We simply changed the meeting place but the demands remain ".

A source said that the Ronaldo agency, Gestifute, did not know that the case had been filed.

Mayorga says that Ronaldo raped her at a meeting in a penthouse hotel suite, then paid her $ 375,000 to stay silent about it. Last year, Mayorga filed a lawsuit declaring that the previous settlement was invalid and that Ronaldo was not complying with the terms. Peter Christiansen, Ronaldo's lawyer in Las Vegas, did not return a message on Wednesday. Ronaldo had previously denied the charges against him.

The Las Vegas police are also investigating any criminal charges against Ronaldo, and this investigation remains open.