About four years after allegations of rape in the USA, the case for soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is probably finally off the table.

A district court in Las Vegas on Friday dismissed a lawsuit worth millions and, according to the AP news agency, justified this with the fact that the plaintiff's lawyer used "stolen" confidential documents.

In her 42-page ruling, Judge Jennifer Dorsey accused the plaintiff's attorneys of "abuse and flagrant evasion of due process."

"Hacked, confidential documents" were repeatedly used.

As a result, the plaintiff loses the opportunity to “pursue this case”.

In 2018, a woman alleged that Ronaldo raped her in Las Vegas in 2009.

In the summer of 2019, the public prosecutor in the US state of Nevada decided not to bring charges against the 37-year-old Portuguese due to a lack of evidence.

Ronaldo had described 2018 as "probably the most difficult" of his life in view of the rape allegations against him.

The former US model Kathryn Mayorga from Nevada reported the alleged rape to the police immediately afterwards on June 13, 2009, but at the time did not give Ronaldo's name or a location.

Ronaldo has always denied the allegations and said the sex was consensual.

In 2010, the attorneys for both sides settled out of court, according to prosecutors.

Ronaldo's lawyers said in the court documents that the soccer star and Mayorga entered into the agreement to "preserve confidentiality" and "avoid a public and costly litigation".

As Ronaldo's lawyers later revealed, $375,000 was paid to the woman as part of the deal.

The woman's lawyers had now demanded $25 million, arguing that the other side had broken confidentiality.

Criminal proceedings against the Portuguese were dropped in 2019 because prosecutors deemed it unlikely that the Manchester United attacker would be convicted.

The Las Vegas court's decision is now open to appeal in a San Francisco appeals court.

The national soccer team of Portugal will play the Nations League duel against Switzerland on Sunday in Geneva without Ronaldo, Dortmund defender Raphaël Guerreiro and midfielder João Moutinho.

The three regular players would not fly to Geneva with the team, the Portuguese association announced in Lisbon on Saturday.

National coach Fernando Santos told journalists that the reason was "a perfectly normal management question".

"It doesn't make sense to travel to Switzerland with 26 players when only 23 in total can (go on the pitch and) sit on the bench," said the 67-year-old coach, who won the European Championship with Portugal in 2016.

Ronaldo scored twice in the 4-0 first-leg win over Switzerland in Lisbon.

After three of a total of six rounds, the "Seleção" leads Group 2 of League A with seven points ahead of Spain (5) and the Czech Republic (4).

After three defeats, Switzerland is still without a point.

He still expects "a very strong opponent" on Sunday, said Santos.