As Cristiano Ronaldo makes his second Man Utd debut, the opportunism surrounding his rape allegations is telling

One of the most anticipated returns in football history will take place on Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile, virtue-signaling and lip service are the order of the day in some corners of the British press covering Cristiano Ronaldo.

When the Portuguese icon takes to the field at Old Trafford to face Newcastle United in the Premier League, this will be his much-awaited 'second debut' for the home side.

After leaving boyhood club Sporting Lisbon, Ronaldo first joined Manchester United in 2003. His first official appearance for the club came in a 4-0 win over Bolton Wanderers that was described by his fellow wearer of the number 7 shirt George Best as "undoubtedly the most exciting debut" the late legend had ever seen.

Ronaldo received a standing ovation when he came on as a substitute that afternoon, and similar adulation is expected for the 36-year-old on Saturday, who was closing in on an unthinkable switch to bitter rivals Manchester City from Juventus before talks broke down and a phone call from Sir Alex Ferguson helped sway him.

A lot has happened in the 18 years since a teenage punt with wonky teeth, dodgy highlights, and a penchant for stepovers first dazzled the Theatre of Dreams.

Ronaldo dedicated himself entirely to his craft, and has made a strong shout in the argument for the greatest player of all time full stop, with no fewer than five Champions League titles, five Ballon d'Ors and a recently-made international goalscoring record. 

There is, however, the scrutiny of Ronaldo's record away from the pitch.

As reported by Der Spiegel in 2017, Ronaldo had an allegation of rape made against him in Las Vegas in 2009.

After the accuser, Kathryn Mayorga, was paid $375,000 as part of a non-disclosure agreement, Ronaldo's legal team insisted that the settlement was "by no means a confession of guilt" of their client.

Ronaldo has always vehemently denied the claims against him. 

In 2018, just as he was about to play at Old Trafford as a Juventus striker in the Champions League, Mayorga waived her right to anonymity while Las Vegas police reopened the case but could not prove anything "beyond reasonable doubt."

Mayorga still has a civil case ongoing against Ronaldo, but the footballers has also spoken out on the matter by refuting the accusations as "an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in".

Perhaps predictably, Ronaldo's return to English shores has seen the case being brought to the forefront once more – and the lip service paid to it is striking.

Several outlets have enjoyed the traffic and the buzz that came throughout his transfer saga this summer and feats such as recently breaking Ali Daei's international goalscoring record.

Now, though, ahead of the second debut, many of the very same outlets are covering their tracks with virtue-signaling.

With their "Explained: The rape allegations against Ronaldo" piece, the Athletic weren't the only ones to run with such a title.

Joined by the Independent, the Daily Star and the Manchester Evening News, among others, it seems capitalizing on some clicks and Search Engine Optimization was the order of the day, or attempting to prove that they had at least feigned to discuss the topic before a season-long Ronaldo lovefest kicks in at around 15.00 UK time on Saturday. 

When The Guardian published "Cristiano Ronaldo’s return should provoke awkward conversations as well as cheers", a thought-provoking piece was expected but, in arriving at the meek conclusion that the solution is to "support," "listen" and "be prepared to engage" with charities such as Women's Aid, this felt like nothing more than a case of saying: "There, we've written about it now, so we can enjoy watching him again without any guilt."

Of course the irony of writing this article just before kick-off isn't lost on me. It opens up the chance of similar accusations of gaming the system for traffic, but this is a rebuke of what feels like trying to be seen as a do-gooder and then just carrying on regardless in covering a man who hasn't been charged with any crime.

It also begs the question: If not for clicks and conscience-cleansing, why bring it all up again if there haven't been any developments in the case? 

Usually these vehicles might be bullied into dropping Ronaldo altogether, but it seems there is simply too much revenue to be generated when it comes to CR7.

By Tom Sanderson

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.