Cristiano Ronaldo has firmly denied allegations of rape made against him.

The Juventus forward is being sued by a woman in the United States who claims he raped her in the penthouse suite of a Las Vegas hotel in 2009.

Writing on Twitter, Ronaldo said: “I firmly deny the accusations being issued against me. Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in.

“Keen as I may be to clear my name, I refuse to feed the media spectacle created by people seeking to promote themselves at my expense.

“My clear conscious will thereby allow me to await with tranquillity the results of any and all investigations.”