Luca Bruno / Associated press
EA Sports removed image of Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo from a FIFA 19 photo video game coverage on its website Friday.
Onefootball’s Francesco Porzio posted before and after images of the site on Twitter:
EA Sports’ decision to remove Ronaldo’s photo from the website follows the reopening of a Las Vegas police investigation into a allegation by American Kathryn Mayorga that Ronaldo raped her in a hotel room in 2009.
According to the Spanish newspaper LIKE, EA Sports issued the following statement regarding the removal of Ronaldo’s image: “We have seen the disturbing report which details the allegations against Cristiano Ronaldo. We are monitoring the situation closely as we await cover athletes and ambassadors that they behave in a manner consistent with EA’s values. “
After fans noticed that Ronaldo was removed from the banner photo of the game’s Twitter account on Wednesday, a spokesperson for EA Sports said Eurogamer’s Wesley Yin-Poole that the company “updates its social banners for certain marketing beats. “
Last week Ronaldo called the allegation of “fake news” on Instagram Live and added, “They want to promote my name. It’s normal. They want to be famous for saying my name, but that’s part of the job. I am a happy man and everything is fine. “
According to the BBC, Ronaldo would have reached a Settlement of $ 375,000 with Mayorga in 2010. In return, Mayorga agreed not to make the allegation public.
Mayorga’s claim was made public in german magazine Der Spiegel, and Ronaldo’s lawyers called the report of the publication “patently illegal” while announcing their intention to seek damages.
FIFA 19 was released on September 28 with Ronaldo as the cover athlete in his Juventus kit after joining the club during a transfer from Real Madrid in July.