Save the Children ‘disheartened’ by rape claim made against Cristiano Ronaldo

SAVE The Children has tonight said it is “disheartened” by bombshell rape allegations made against its ambassador Cristiano Ronaldo.

The £100million football ace, 33, is accused of attacking then-model Kathryn Mayorga at a Las Vegas hotel room in 2009.

Ms Mayorga, now 34, claims Ronaldo forced himself on her as she screamed “no, no, no”.

And explosive court documents allege that she received a £287,000 settlement in 2010 forbidding her from repeating the allegations — which he vehemently denies.

But this evening Save The Children — which Ronaldo has worked with on charity projects since 2016 — became the first of his corporate partners to comment.

A spokesperson of the charity told : “We are disheartened by the news report we’ve seen in the last 24 hours and are working to get more information.”

The Sun Online has approached the charity for further comment.

Juve forward Ronaldo has been a face for the charity since 2016.

According to the Save The Children website, “Ronaldo lends his voice and visibility to spotlight issues facing child refugees and all vulnerable children around the globe”.

The Euro 2016 winner’s other commercial partners Samsonite,  Nike, Samsung and EA among others have so far not commented.

Earlier tonight The Sun Online exclusively revealed video footage of Ronaldo dancing with his rape accuser hours before the alleged attack in June 2009.

It shows the superstar footballer grinding against Ms Mayorga in the VIP area of the Rain nightclub where she worked.

She alleges he then attacked her in the penthouse suite of the Palms Casino Resort — before apologising and saying he is “usually a gentleman”.

Ronaldo, pictured this evening with his family at Juventus’ Champions League clash in Turin, has strongly denied the claims — branding them “fake news”.

His lawyers have called the reporting in German news Der Spiegal, which revealed the rape claims, “blatantly illegal” and have said they will be seeking substantial damages.

It emerged on Monday that Las Vegas police have re-opened the investigation into the alleged sexual assault.