LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas police say investigators are asking Italian authorities to obtain a DNA sample from soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo in an ongoing rape investigation.
The department issued a statement Thursday confirming "an official request" was sent to Italy. That's where Ronaldo plays for a soccer club in Turin.
The police statement does not specify if a warrant was issued. Department spokeswoman Laura Meltzer declined additional comment.
Ronaldo's lawyer, Peter S. Christiansen in Las Vegas, downplayed the development and denied a Nevada woman's allegation that Ronaldo raped her in Las Vegas in 2009.
The lawyer says sex was consensual and evidence collection is standard practice.
A police sexual assault investigation was closed in 2009 but reopened last August, before the woman filed a civil lawsuit in Nevada claiming that Ronaldo raped her.