The rape allegation against Cristiano Ronaldo is a big story, but you might not know it from the Italian media

Originally published on the Athletic

Kathryn Mayorga has accused Cristiano Ronaldo of raping her. Der Spiegel published her interview on Saturday along with copious corroborating documentary details. But you would hardly know it from the Italian media’s coverage.

Mayorga’s allegation, that Ronaldo attacked her at a party in Las Vegas in June of 2009, has spread far and wide on social media. There were vows of support for Mayorga and, as is all too common in these cases, reflexive and insistent defenses of the famous accused man. But, in Italy, the national media largely limited its coverage to Ronaldo’s absence from the match against Young Boys (for which he was serving a red card suspension). As has often been the case since his 100 million Euro transfer to Juventus, Ronaldo continues to dominate headlines in Italy. Which headlines, however, depend entirely on where you look.

This shouldn’t necessarily come as a shock. The Juventus media machine is notorious in its efforts to control the narrative about the team and its players, and it is, unsurprisingly, eager to protect its asset. Similarly, Ronaldo’s reportedly aggressive team of lawyers has already threatened legal action over the story.

In Italy, Ronaldo is a symbol of rebirth for Italian football. He represents a return to the glory days of the ‘90s, when Serie A was where the world’s greatest tested their skills. As far as the media is concerned, that’s a more important story than Mayorga’s allegations.

Italian society is yet to have the reckoning with sexual violence brought about by the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, though it’s not as if the country has played no part in the rise in awareness; Italian actress Asia Argento was one of the key players in exposing the predatory behavior of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein (Argento herself was also later accused of sexual assault against a minor).

But in her home country, Argento was largely mocked and derided.

“First, these women give it away,” said Vittorio Feltri, the editor of Libero, a right-wing outlet, suggesting Argento had engaged in consensual sex with Weinstein. “Then, 20 years later, they repent and denounce the alleged rapist.”

This attitude toward victims of sexual abuse in Italy is not universal but it is not uncommon, either. In some ways, Italy lags behind the U.S. in sensitivity around this issue.

In others, Italy has presaged what has come to pass in America. Silvio Berlusconi, a Trump prototype, served four terms as prime minister. Infamous for his “bunga-bunga parties” where powerful men would congregate with minors and prostitutes, Berlusconi’s administrations were riddled with scandals. The culture he helped build, as prime minister and as a television magnate whose programming regularly featured scantily-clad women, continues to permeate Italian culture today.

Since Der Spiegel published Mayorga’s rape allegation against Ronaldo, the Italian media has given the story cursory coverage at best.

A few stories appeared today, after Ronaldo tweeted a denial, as though his acknowledgement of the subject gave them permission to acknowledge it as well.

Last night, Rai, the national broadcaster, ran its 8 p.m. news show up against Juventus’ Champions League match against Young Boys. The program included segments about Italian politics, the tsunami in Indonesia, Brexit, road closures, Karl Lagerfeld’s new fashion line, and the Nobel Prize, but Ronaldo was never mentioned. The Italian broadcast of the match also failed to mention the rape accusation.

“Nobody is talking about it,” an Italian journalist, who requested anonymity because Ronaldo is an ambassador for his company, told The Athletic. “Everyone wants to protect their product and nobody wants to know about this. It’s typically Italian.”

“Nobody” includes Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri. He was asked about the Der Spiegel article in an Oct. 1st press conference and said he hadn’t read it.

“No comment,” Allegri said. “I haven’t even read the article. These are private matters.”

Ronaldo, while serving his suspension Tuesday night, sat in the stands with his girlfriend and watched his new team dismantle an overmatched Swiss side in the Champions League. And just as Ronaldo was  absent on the pitch, the more important story was curiously absent everywhere else.