Cristiano Ronaldo Denies Rape Allegations, 'Journalistic Fiction'

Cristiano Ronaldo is adamant he did NOT rape a woman in Las Vegas back in 2009 -- and then pay her a fortune in cash to keep her quiet ... this according reps for the soccer superstar.

Ronaldo's personal team is responding to a story in a German newspaper which claims CR7 paid a woman roughly $375k in hush money after she claimed he raped her in a Vegas hotel room.

In a statement, Ronaldo's people shot the article down as B.S. -- saying it's "nothing but a piece of journalistic fiction."

"The accusations reported by the Der Spiegel are false, and Cristiano Ronaldo will do everything in his power to react against these. An accusation of an act of rape is disgusting and outraging, and he will not allow it to hang over his reputation."

Ronaldo's people go on to explain, "The alleged victim refuses to come forward and confirm the veracity of the accusation. The newspaper has based their entire narrative on documents which are unsigned and where the parties are not identified, on emails between lawyers whose content does not concern Cristiano Ronaldo and whose authenticity he cannot verify, and on an alleged letter that is said to have been sent to him by the so-called victim, but was never received by Cristiano."