‘Have you asked your female employees if they feel the same?’ Juve slammed for statement on Ronaldo’s rape allegations

Cristiano Ronaldo’s new club, Juventus, saw themselves on the receiving end because of their tweet in support of their 100 million-euros-worth footballer.

While their support for Ronaldo was not the issue, their statement turned out to be unacceptable on the social media considering the charges against the 33-year-old are massive.

Juventus tweeted saying the claims made by an American model don’t change their opinion of the Portuguese striker.

“Cristiano Ronaldo has shown in recent months his great professionalism and dedication, which is appreciated by everyone at Juventus.

The events allegedly dating back to almost 10 years ago do not change this opinion, which is shared by anyone who has come into contact with this great champion,” the defending Serie A champions said on Twitter.

Juventus later posted a video on YouTube and Twitter showing, Ronaldo, working up a sweat as he trained with his teammates at the team’s Continassa centre in Turin for Saturday’s league game against Udinese.

“Juventus go for goal. Cristiano Ronaldo finds the target!” read the caption beside the video.

The Italian football club’s tweets were widely slammed on social media terming those as “shockingly dismissive and insensitive.”

This is such a disgraceful tweet- the implicit suggestion that both his attitude to football and his playing ability are relevant to (or even should excuse him from) being an alleged rapist is horrific

— Annabel Ault (@annabelault) 4 October 2018

Juventus have chosen obfuscation and distraction rather than denial re Ronaldo rape investigation. The idea that an athlete’s “professionalism and dedication” is a relevant consideration in a sexual assault case is absolutely toxic pic.twitter.com/AElHFnMcBE

—  is a Country (@FutbolsaCountry) October 4, 2018

Completely irrelevant and utterly tone-deaf.

Pathetic stuff from Juventus. pic.twitter.com/2gkSDG8ak1

— Oldfirmfacts (@Oldfirmfacts1) October 4, 2018

Don't think it's helpful to offer opinions on serious allegations - particularly on social media - but that Juventus statement is abhorrent.

'Allegations do not change our opinion that he is a great champion' - this is bigger than sporting achievement, for goodness sake.

— Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) October 4, 2018

At this point, you already know this is a bad tweet. But have you actually asked female employees, supporters, or the @JuventusFCWomen if they share the opinion that serious accusations of assault don't matter because time has passed — or are you simply speaking for them?

— Eric Beard (@BeardEric) 4 October 2018

Even if the Las Vegas investigation of sexual assault (which Cristiano Ronaldo denies) were to clear Ronaldo, this is a truly terrible tweet from Juventus. https://t.co/2HLCQGLgdJ

— Grant Wahl (@GrantWahl) October 4, 2018

Earlier, Real Madrid and Portugal star Ronaldo on Wednesday firmly denied claims by a former American model that he raped her in a Las Vegas hotel in 2009.

"I firmly deny the accusations being issued against me," he tweeted in Portuguese and English.

"Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in," said the 33-year-old Juventus forward.

"My clear conscious (sic) will thereby allow me to await with tranquility the results of any and all investigations," he added on his Twitter feed @Cristiano, which has nearly 75 million followers.

Although he received the backing of the Portuguese football federation president (FPF),  he was dropped from Portugal’s side for upcoming international matches. However, there are reports saying that the rape allegations are not the reason behind leaving Ronaldo out of the squad.