“On my behalf and on behalf of the Portuguese Football Federation I express total solidarity with Cristiano Ronaldo, at a time when his good name and reputation are being called into question," said Gomes in a statement isued on Thursday. "I believe in the world he said yesterday [Wednesday], not only because I advocate the presumption of innocence as a basic principle of a rule of law, but also because I have known Ronaldo for many years and I am a witness to his good character."

On Wednesday, Ronaldo took to social media to “firmly” deny the accusations made against him.

“Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in," reads his Twitter post. " 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.”

The 32-year-old Juventus player is accused by Kathryn Mayorga of raping her on 13 June 2009 during a party in a Las Vegas hotel in the US state of Nevada.

Local police on Monday announced that they had reopened the investigation, after Mayorga, now a 34-year-old teacher, filed a complaint last week at a court in Clark County, Las Vegas.

On 13 June of 2009, police added, a complaint had been lodged and the woman submitted to a medical examination, but did not provide full details of the alleged incident or description of the suspect at the time.

A new version of the complaint was made on Wednesday via one of her lawyers, Leslie Stovall, who said that her client had named Ronaldo as the rapist.

The lawyers said they do not understand why the investigation had not proceeded and plan to cite Ronaldo for the crimes of sexual assault, attempted sexual harassment, coercion for fraud, assault on a vulnerable person, conspiracy, defamation, abuse of process, attempt to silence the case, attempt to implement a non-disclosure agreement, negligence and breach of contract.

As soon as Cristiano Ronaldo is formally notified of the accusations, he will have 20 days to respond to the complaint.

Mayorga’s lawyers also said that she suffered emotional disturbances following the incident, becoming fragile and depressed, and that she went to a specialist who diagnosed her with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression after the alleged incident.

Mayorga said that at the time she was coerced into signing a confidentiality agreement in exchange for $375,000 (€325,000) - a document that her lawyers believe has no legal status.