With authorities investigating Cristiano Ronaldo for a 2009 rape, Portugal has decided to leave the star striker off of its national team for a pair of upcoming matches.
Ronaldo has staunchly denied the allegations against him in a series of social media posts, but Portugal apparently was not comfortable with having their World Cup captain on the squad for games against Poland and Scotland.
According to Record, Ronaldo spoke to Portugal coach Fernando Santos and Portuguese federation president Fernando Gomes about the situation and the trio decided it was best the star player not be called up to the team.
Santos said Ronaldo won’t be called up for Portugal’s next round of international games in November either. He did say he expects Ronaldo to play again for Portugal eventually.
Ronaldo, 33, is the country’s most experienced player with 154 national team appearances, and its all-time highest scorer with 85 goals.
Kathryn Mayorga alleges Ronaldo assaulted her in a Las Vegas hotel room in 2009.
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