A US judge has dismissed the Las Vegas rape lawsuit against football star Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Manchester United star had paid a woman $375,000 in hush money after she claimed he raped her in Las Vegas in 2009.

The lawsuit sought a further payout, which might have run into millions of dollars, but US District Judge Jennifer Dorsey kicked the case out of court on Friday over the way documents were obtained.

The judge said in her 42-page order that dismissing a case outright with no option to file it again is a severe sanction, but that Ronaldo had been harmed by the conduct of the woman’s lawyer, Leslie Mark Stovall.