The secret of Cristiano Ronaldo

An American woman goes to the police in Las Vegas. She claims Cristiano Ronaldo raped her. Whether this really happened is never elucidated. Lawyers settle the case, the real star pays the woman: 375,000 dollars.
God is always at his side. He could feel that, says Cristiano Ronaldo. "There is someone who directs me."
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, 32, born in Funchal in Madeira, baptized in the church of Santo António, blessed with talent. The world footballer of Real Madrid often crosses for an important goal or sends greetings to heaven with a gesture.
For a time, as a sign of his faith, he also wore a rosary around his neck. There are photos of Ronaldo on which the prayer chain can be seen. She is white. The color of innocence.
The White Rosary was also remembered by a young woman who met Ronaldo in Las Vegas on June 12, He went on holiday with his brother-in-law and a cousin. The American was the chance of a long party. A flirtation.
Somehow the pretty woman and the famous kicker landed in the bedroom of a suite at the Palms Place Hotel.


According to a police protocol, it was there early in the morning.
What was to happen in that night and in this bedroom is described by Susan K. in a letter to Ronaldo, whom she wrote over a year after the meeting. He is disturbing. A long, shouting cry.
K. claims to have been raped by Ronaldo. The white rosary, "the white rosary", appears in the middle of the letter. "You jumped from behind," writes Susan K., "with a white rosary around your neck!" There are two questions that end with exclamations:
"What would God think about it !!!
What would God think about you !!! "
The letter from Susan K. to Ronaldo is presented to the SPIEGEL. It belongs to a document collection, which the Football Leaks disclosure portal has left to the news magazine. Writing, almost six pages long, is an angry indictment. But are the descriptions of K. also true?
The content of this letter is delicate, it can damage the reputation of a man who is one of the greatest stars in world sport. Because the story of Susan K. can be true, she has to be told. For it throws a stroke into a society in which some people can manifest themselves almost everything. She reports about a previously unknown part of the great Cristiano-Ronaldo story. A hero saga that seems gloomier than many of its fans think.
There is another document dealing with what happened in the early morning hours of June 13, 2009 in Apartment 57306. It is a "Settlement Memorialization," an out-of-court agreement between Susan K. and Ronaldo. It was worked out months after the night in Las Vegas. At least nine lawyers were involved.
According to this agreement, which contains eleven clauses, Susan K. agrees to keep silent about what has happened in the bedroom. It commits itself to abandon all allegations of accusation. Ronaldo must pay her $ 375,000.
In the document Susan K. has the abbreviation "Ms. P", Ronaldo is "Mr. D". In clause number eight, "Ms. P agrees to provide Mr. D with the first names of all the people to whom she has told the accusation of rape and to whom she has given the identity of Mr. D ... She says there are no other people to whom she has related the events. "
Clause 11 states: "Ms. P will assure that it has irrevocably destroyed all electronic and written records resulting from the alleged act."
If it violates the agreements, it must repay the money. Should Ronaldo be harmed by an indiscretion, she would have to pay for it.
The agreement was signed on 12 January 2010. From Susan K., from several lawyers. Cristiano Ronaldo did not sign personally. For him, his Portuguese lawyer, Carlos Osório de Castro, who has been regulating the legal rights of the footballer for years.
The controversy surrounding the events in Apartment 57306 at the Palms Place Hotel should be extinguished with this document. What happened in Las Vegas from the 12th to the 13th of June should not be a thing for Cristiano Ronaldo. It should be the night in the life of the famous footballer who has never existed. Who can not give it.
The question is whether it is wise that disputes and accusations of this extent are not settled in court. Can it be a good thing for the judiciary to be overthrown and the money to be paid out of the affair?
In Germany,Suspected crimes must be clarified once they have been recorded by the police. At least the authorities have to try. The farther away from this principle, the more we become concerned that the well-off can not only be top attorneys, but can also simply negotiate wrongdoing.
The SPIEGEL has tried to talk with Susan K., her family, with her friends and her lawyer. Hardly anyone wanted to comment, no one wanted to be cited. There are good reasons for this: the fear of headlines. That everything breaks again. And, of course, the deal made seven years ago. It works like a wall.
Susan K., whose name has changed, lives in Las Vegas in an apartment complex with secured entrance and exit. She is mid-thirties, working with children. K. comes from the upper middle class. The home of the parents is in one of the better areas of Las Vegas, well-kept front yard, large garage, wide view over the city.
In June 2009, K. was married. What role her husband, from whom she is now divorced, played in her life at the time is unclear. He is not mentioned at all in the documents and the numerous e-mails, which are present to the SPIEGEL.
When the SPIEGEL at the end of March K. first contacted by telephone, with her about the letter and the agreement with Ronaldo wants to speak, her voice trembles. "No comment, no comment," she says, laying down.
A few days later, in an encounter in front of her house, K. ran almost panicked.
The agreement with Ronaldo stipulates in clause 4 what it has to do when it is approached by third parties to the events in June 2009. She had "nothing to say" about it. If they were to be addressed on the street, they had to "go on".
It is an invisible direction that determines their lives.
The Palms Place Hotel is located in the heart of Las Vegas, just blocks from the Strip. It has 58 floors, at the top are four floors with noble penthouses. The lobby is dominated by gold, marble and lounge furniture in a metallic look. From the luxury cars, which advance, guests climb with expensive sunglasses and designer shoes.
In 2009 the hotel and casino complex of the Palms was the in-place par excellence in Las Vegas. Michael Jackson stayed here, the MTV Video Music Awards were lent here, the in-house recording studio used stars such as Whitney Houston, Lady Gaga and Usher.
The apartment 57306, the one where Ronaldo lodged, today costs around 1000 dollars a night. It has a kitchen, a large living room, two bedrooms with king-size beds and adjoining luxury bathrooms. The highlight is a Jacuzzi on the balcony from which you can look over the skyline of the city.

Ronaldo lived the glamorous suite for several days. It was the summer when he switched from Manchester United to Real Madrid, for the then record numbers of 94 million euros.
On the evening of the 12th of June, a Friday, Ronaldo goes out with his companions in Las Vegas. They are celebrating in a nearby nightclub. In a separate VIP area, Ronaldo meets Susan K.
The further course of Partynacht is described in the letter she wrote to Ronaldo: She gave her her number. He had called her later and invited him to a party. Then they went to his penthouse. When K. arrived with a girlfriend, Ronaldo and his friends were supposed to have climbed into the Jacuzzi. He had offered her bathing. As she moved, he had followed her. They would have kissed. Ronaldo, it says, was not enough. She had, however, returned to the others. He had packed her and laid her on the bed. She had tried to protect herself with both hands. "I've always screamed no, no, no, no, and begged you to stop, I've never had such a fear in my life," writes K. in the letter.
When it was over, Ronaldo should have turned to her. He is 99 percent not a bad guy, he should have said that one percent he can not explain. This is how K. writes in her letter.
Ronaldo's lawyer strongly rejects the accusation of rape. It was an untenable submission.
Who is Cristiano Ronaldo?
There is no second prominent footballer who is as clear a self-image as the world star from Portugal. If he poses wide-legged, with his chin up, his eyes wide open, his arms outstretched, his muscles tense, he is the staging of a man who feels as a super-man. Perfect, omnipotent, unmatched. Similar to God.
In her letter to Ronaldo, Susan K wrote: "I wish I could tell the world who you really are."
The world knows only the footballer Ronaldo. His goals, his dribbling, his selfishness. It is known that he earned almost 40 million euros a year at Real Madrid. That he loves children. That he reveres his mother. He was seen crying when he lost his last place in the finals at the European Championship in France last year. It was filled with happiness, after Portugal won the final without him.
Ronaldo is more than just a good kicker. He is the idol of a youth generation, copying each of his poses, each of his tricks and each of his haircuts. He is an advertising icon. In Ronaldo's home in Madeira, an airport is named after him, there is also a Ronaldo museum on the island. Before it stands a survival-sized statue of the idol. She shows him in football shorts - and with absurdly stressed masculinity.
Ronaldo is a sex symbol. At the world football gala in Zurich in January, the female fans screamed as he advanced. There are countless photo shoots that show the footballer only in underwear. He loves his body, which he modeled in the gym and for which he is also admired by many men.
What role women play in their lives is difficult to say. He had relationships, affairs. Ronaldo is currently liaison. He has a six-year-old son, Cristiano junior. The mother is unknown. The child is at his side as often as he can.
In 2005 Ronaldo was once accused of a woman of rape. The then 20-year-old Manchester United striker was questioned by the police. He denied the accusations. Prosecution has never been charged.
It happens again and again that celebrities are victims of blackmail. Ultimately only Susan K. and Ronaldo know what happened in the early morning hours in his penthouse in Las Vegas.
She has written down her version in the letter. The SPIEGEL has asked Ronaldo for an opinion. He has his Munich attorney Johannes Kreile answer. "The accusations that your questions suggest are to be dismissed in the strongest possible way," the lawyer writes. His client will "take action against any untrue allegation of the facts as well as against any infringement of his or her personality rights". The lawyer calls on the SPIEGEL to "refrain from reporting to the complex".
In the documents that the SPIEGEL evaluated, there is also a note, which shows how the footballer may have spoken against his lawyer Osório de Castro about the night in Las Vegas. So Ronaldo had had sex with K. He then went to bed. She had gone back to the jacuzzi. There were no signs that she was not doing well.
Was it amicable sex? Did K. play a wrong game later?
And so well, Ronaldo's lawyers decided not to bring them to court, but to pay them?
It is clear that K. reported to the police on the day of the alleged attack, at 14.16. There is a protocol that records the call to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. It is the expression of SPIEGEL. In the so-called CAD report, the case has a file number which later also finds itself in the settlement between K. and Ronaldo.
In the CAD report, the reason for the call is listed in the category "Type": 426. The code for a reported sexual offense.
The policeman, who is talking to K., notes that the caller is resolved, crying, and not giving the name of the alleged perpetrator. It was a "public figure," an "athlete". The official notes that K. has not washed himself.
Shortly after three o'clock, a patrol with K. heads. The policemen report several times by radio in the headquarters. There an official noted that the supposed victim wanted to go to the hospital to undergo a "rape-kit". This is a special examination of victims of sexual violence, in which traces are recorded and injuries are photographed.
Just before 4 pm, the police officers take K. to the University Medical Center. The journey takes 26 minutes. At 5:15 pm, the CAD report states that K. has now vaguely reported the alleged crime scene. It was a hotel "close to" Flamingo Road.
The Palms Place Hotel is located on Flamingo Road.
The treatment at the University Medical Center cost 2976.52 dollars. For what exactly, the documents, which the SPIEGEL has seen, is not clear. In the letter to Ronaldo, K. writes that he has inflicted injuries to the rectum at night.
It is not known whether K. reported in the hospital after the examination. It is clear from the documents that she did not take it away, for fear of the consequences. A process against a world star means Camerataams outside the door. There are many allegations made, the outcome is uncertain, the headlines linger for a lifetime.
Maybe K. did not want to do this to himself and her family.
Nevertheless, K. obviously did not want to let the matter rest. She took a lawyer. The lawyer Mary S., changed name, had a small law firm in an office complex in the southern part of Las Vegas. The building is surrounded by houses and a retirement home. The process which the client described her will bring her to the limits in the coming months.
In the middle of July, Mr. S. reports to a lawyer from Ronaldo in England. It represented a plaintiff in Las Vegas in a case against the footballer. The lawyer directs the mail to the Ronaldo lawyer Carlos Osório de Castro in Portugal.
"What could it be?"
Osório answers: "No idea."
At the end of July it is clear that this is something explosive. In the meantime several lawyers have dealt with the case, including one from California, which has already represented many celebrities in court. Ronaldo's attorneys are changing how best to proceed. One writes in a mail that one must take the suite at the Palms Place Hotel in order to get a picture of the alleged crime scene.
A catalog with 274 questions will be sent to Ronaldo. He should answer them verbally, not in writing. Susan K. gets the abbreviation "Ms. C" in the manuscript.
Question 60: "How were the circumstances of the first encounter with Ms. C?"
Question 80: "Took Ms. C earlier in the evening drugs?"
Question 141: "What was the first physical contact between you and Ms. C after you left the jacuzzi area?"
Question 152: "Was there a sexual penetration?"
Question 158: "Was there any brutality in your sexual behavior?"
Question 163: "Did Ms. C call or scream?"
Question 165: "Does Ms. C have words like 'stop' or 'no' or 'not' or the like?"
This is followed by a bold printed note from the lawyers. "Ms. C's attorney told us that her client said she'd apologize to her after sex."
Question 190: "Have you apologized to her or told her that you were sorry after you had sex?"
Question 270: "In what physical and mental condition did Ms. C leave the hotel room?"
The questions attributed to the attorneys at Ronaldo are very often about a blond woman, who accompanied K. on that night, also in apartment 57306. She is an important witness. The SPIEGEL also contacted her, but Susan K. is afraid to speak.
In the autumn of 2009, initial negotiations on an out-of-court settlement begin. In the US cases of sexual violence are often settled by so-called settlements, where victims and perpetrators agree without a process.
After murder, rape in the US state of Nevada is the most serious crime. If one is condemned, life imprisonment threatens. For a conviction, however, the guilt has to be fixed with certainty in a probability - and this is particularly difficult with sexual injuries. Often statements are made against statements.
Many victims opt for a civil procedure instead of criminal proceedings. It is not a question of condemning the alleged perpetrator, but of financially compensating the victim. The burden of proof is significantly lower in such a process. It must only be more than 50 percent probable that the alleged perpetrator has committed the act.
A civil procedure also has disadvantages. Although the victim can request that the case be pseudonymed, he is still public and, of course, there is no assurance that anonymity will be preserved.
It is precisely for this reason that many victims choose to clarify the case out of court, for example in the context of a mediation in which a neutral person mediates. At the end is a settlement agreement, a settlement.





Such a procedure can be advantageous for both sides. Thus, the identities of suspected perpetrators and victims can be protected. The whole does not last as long as a process. The burdensome details of the rape need not necessarily be given.
In the case of K. versus Ronaldo, it takes a long time for a mediation term. In December 2009, Osório de Castro was informed that Susan K. was planning to meet with a policeman - and this investigator also wanted to talk to her friend, the witness.
Osório de Castro urges his US colleagues: "The clock is ticking, we have to decide how to proceed, and we have to prepare for a battle, either way."
On January 12, 2010, the parties will meet. The mediator is also present. Ronaldo not. Susan K. is said to have been perturbed.
After a "long negotiation day", as one of the jurists later noted, the parties then agree on the settlement. The sum that Ronaldo is to pay to K. is recorded in Settlement Memorialization: $ 375,000. So much for Ronaldo earned at Real Madrid in a week.
Until the summer months the lawyers refine the agreement, they bargain for paragraphs, clauses and formulations. For example, it is about how K. has to behave in her therapy. The Ronaldo lawyers insist that they do not participate in group sessions and should not reveal the name of Ronaldo to their therapist.
The US lawyers are not allowed to complain, even Ronaldo said. Nor should she speak about him in the circle of her family. "To give vent to the anger and blasphemy," writes one of the lawyers in a mail, would create a difficult to control mood.
Ronaldo's troops are anxious to exclude any possibility of secret betrayal. This is also the question, for example, of how K. could tax the agreement sum. If she did not, the lawyers would fear that the US tax authority might be interested in the money sum on her account and K. would have to explain what she had received the money for.
Ronaldo's attorneys are discussing the flow of $ 375,000 through a company that normally sells the advertising for Ronaldo: Multisports & Image Management, registered in the European tax haven Ireland.
On July 31, Osório de Castro finally gave the green light to the agreement, which was negotiated by the US attorneys.
The Las Vegas case was finished for Cristiano Ronaldo. He started Real in the next football season.
The SPIEGEL asked Osório de Castro to comment. He replied that it was the business policy of his law firm not to publicly comment on his client's business - and no conclusions should be drawn from the fact that every comment is rejected.
What is the truth? What is the price of a lie?
The letter that Susan K. wrote to Ronaldo is also a component of the out-of-court agreement. Clause 10 states that the letter must be read by Ronaldo, his lawyer, Osório de Castro.
Susan K. writes: "I do not care about your money, I want justice, but there is no justice in this matter." She mentions "Medical Records," medical records that list the injuries her Ronaldo is said to have inflicted.
The story of Susan K. is a traumatized woman. She writes, "I am no longer the person I used to be."
Would it not have been better to have the matter clarified between them by a court?
For the constitutional state, because such agreements are doubtful?
For Ronaldo, because the suspicion of a rape could stick to it forever?
And for the soul life of Susan K.? Your letter to Ronaldo ends with a PS. She regrets to have agreed to the agreement, she writes in greased letters: "Today I would take back my decision !! It has been a year since you raped me."
The last two sentences sound like a helpless appeal: "I hope you learn from this terrible mistake !! Never ever take a woman's life, just as you took mine!"