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A US judge has dismissed a rape allegation lawsuit against Cristiano Ronaldo because the accuser's lawyer relied on leaked and stolen records, BBC reported.

Kathryn Mayorga alleges that the Manchester United footballer raped her at a Las Vegas hotel in 2009. 

He denies the allegations and has never been charged.

She reportedly reached an out-of-court settlement with the star in 2010, but has been seeking millions more than the $375,000 (£304,000) she received, according to BBC.

Ms Mayorga said that while she had agreed to the settlement shortly after the alleged incident, her emotional trauma at the time did not allow her to participate in the mediation process, and she felt pressured to accept the offer.

Before filing her complaint, Ms Mayorga's lawyer, Leslie Stovall, received "ill-gotten" information and documents which were confidential and privileged, US District Judge Jennifer Dorsey wrote.

The judge said the lawyer harmed Mr Ronaldo, 37, by conducting himself in "bad faith" through repeated use of stolen, privileged documents to prosecute the case.

In a 42-page ruling released on Friday and quoted by AFP, Judge Dorsey accused Mr Stovall of "abuses and flagrant circumvention of the proper litigation process" and said that as a result, "Mayorga loses her opportunity to pursue this case."

Last year, a magistrate judge recommended the case be dismissed due to Mr Stovall's conduct.

The BBC has contacted Mr Stovall for comment, BBC reported.

In 2019, US prosecutors said Cristiano Ronaldo would not face charges over the accusations as they could not "be proven beyond reasonable doubt".

The Clark County District Attorney's office in Las Vegas said Ms Mayorga reported an assault in 2009, but refused to state where it had happened or who the attacker was. As a result police were unable "to conduct any meaningful investigation". But the allegations were investigated again in 2018 at her request.

It followed a 2017 article in German magazine Der Spiegel, which reported that in 2010, Ms Mayorga reached an out-of-court settlement with the footballer for agreeing never to go public with the allegations. 

Ms Mayorga's lawyer said she had been inspired to re-open the case by the #MeToo movement.

Mr Ronaldo has not denied that the two met in Las Vegas in 2009, but said that what happened between them was consensual.

The BBC does not generally name people who say they are victims of sexual assault, but Ms Mayorga has given consent to make her name public, BBC reported.

Portugal and Spain picked up victories in the Nations League on Thursday to set up a battle between the Iberian neighbors for a spot in the Final Four, Associated Press reported.

Portugal took sole possession of the lead in Group 2 of the top-tier League A by defeating the Czech Republic 2-0, while Spain earned a first win and moved into second place by edging past struggling Switzerland 1-0 in Geneva.

Portugal, the inaugural champion in 2019, is two points ahead of Spain and three in front of the Czechs after three matches. Only the group winners make it to the Final Four, while the last-placed teams will be relegated.

“It’s still wide open,” Portugal coach Fernando Santos said.

It was the second consecutive win for Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal after it had opened with a draw against Spain, last year’s runner-up to France. 

The Spaniards ended their winless run with the victory over last-place Switzerland, which has lost all its matches. The Swiss hadn’t been beaten at home in eight years in a run of 23 matches, according to Associated Press.

“Professional soccer is about results,” Spain coach Luis Enrique said. “We were able to impose our style.”

Portugal opened the scoring with João Cancelo’s low shot from a narrow angle in the 33rd minute, and Gonçalo Guedes added to the lead five minutes later from inside the area after an assist by Bernardo Silva.

Defender Pepe made his 127th appearance, joining Luis Figo for third-best all-time for Portugal. The duo are behind the 145 appearances of João Moutinho and the 188 of Ronaldo. 

Spain got on the board in the 13th minute with Pablo Sarabia redirecting a cross by Marcos Llorente for a goal that had to be confirmed by video review to check for offside. 

“It was about time we won,” Sarabia said. “These three points are very valuable for us.”

It was the teams’ first meeting since Spain defeated the Swiss on penalties in the quarterfinals of the European Championship last year.

Portugal will close play in the June international window in Switzerland on Sunday, while Spain host the Czech Republic.

In the second-tier League B, Erling Haaland drew a blank in Norway’s 0-0 home draw with Slovenia. Haaland arrived as one of the Nations League’s leading scorers with three goals, Associated Press reported. 

Norway leads Group 4 while Slovenia, which was a man down from the 63rd after Miha Blazic was sent off, is in last place. Serbia won 1-0 at Sweden with a goal by Luka Jovic to jump to second place, three points ahead of the Swedes.

In League C, Kosovo defeated Northern Ireland 3-2, Greece routed Cyprus 3-0, Gibraltar drew 1-1 with Bulgaria and Georgia defeated North Macedonia 3-0.

Georgia’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Greece’s Tasos Bakasetas each scored Thursday to join Haaland and Turkey’s Serdar Dursun with three goals.

Estonia won 2-1 at Malta in League D, according to the Associated Press.

Harry Kane's late penalty gave England a Nations League draw in Germany as he became only the second man to score 50 goals for his country, BBC reported.

England captain Kane sent Germany keeper Manuel Neuer the wrong way from the spot with two minutes left, as a VAR review ruled he had been brought down by Nico Schlotterbeck.

It was a goal that gave England their first point in the tournament after defeat in Hungary on Saturday and moved Kane into second place in the all-time record standings, moving ahead of Sir Bobby Charlton to sit only three behind Wayne Rooney, according to BBC.

England looked to be going down to their second defeat but came to life late on in Munich after going behind to Jonas Hofmann's deflected 50th-minute shot and will now look to build on this result when they face Italy at Molineux on Saturday.

Titleholder France failed to rebound from its opening defeat in the Nations League after it was held by Croatia to 1-1 on Monday, Associated Press reported.

Midfielder Adrien Rabiot broke the deadlock after the break and substitute Andrej Kramarić equalized from the spot late for Croatia not to lose to France for the first time in 11 years. 

The draw did neither any favors: France was stunned by Denmark 2-1 in Paris on Friday, the first loss after 20 unbeaten matches, and Croatia started its campaign by losing at home to Austria 3-0.

France will next travel to Austria on Friday while Croatia will visit Denmark, which took sole lead of their League A group.

Denmark made it two from two after beating Austria 2-1 in Vienna. Defender Jens Stryger scored six minutes from the end for Denmark. Xaver Schlager equalized for the hosts after Pierre-Emile Højbjerg’s opener.

The match was delayed by 90 minutes due to a power failure.

Denmark tops the group with six points, followed by Austria with three. France and Croatia have a point each, according to Associated Press.

The four group winners in League A will qualify for the final four in June next year. The group winners in the lower leagues will gain promotion.

France coach Didier Deschamps called the draw “satisfying” after changing 10 of the side which started the loss against Denmark.

France missed star striker Kylian Mbappé, who picked up a knee injury against Denmark, and also absent were Karim Benzema and Antoine Griezmann, replaced by Wissam Ben Yedder and Christopher Nkunku up front.

“This is our chance to prepare for the World Cup and try all the possibilities we have,” Deschamps said. “We are using this competition the best we can.”

At the World Cup in Qatar, France is grouped with Denmark, Tunisia and a yet-to-be-determined team, Associated Press reported.

The sold-out crowd of some 30,000 cheered Croatia captain Luka Modrić in his 150th appearance.

“It was a phenomenal feeling, I am happy and proud of my 150th match for Croatia,” Modrić said.

The first defensive half resulted in only one chance on each side and Nkunku had a goal disallowed for offside.

Rabiot exchanged passes with Ben Yedder, who set him up to find the back of the net with a left-foot shot seven minutes into the second half to put the visitors ahead.

Kramarić calmly sent the goalkeeper the wrong way with a low right-foot penalty seven minutes from time, Associated Press reported.