Iran could sentence Cristiano Ronaldo to 99 lashes... for adultery

Iranian media outlets such as 'Rouydad24' and 'Sharq Emroz' claimed that Cristiano Ronaldo could face a reported 99 lashes for adultery in Iran, but the country's embassy in Madrid has come out to fact check the report and confirming it is fake news.

Iran's embassy in Madrid took to its social media to release a statement regarding the wild allegations, saying it's upsetting they have to debunk the baseless claims.

"We strongly deny the issuance of any sentence against any international athlete in Iran," the statement read. "It is of concern that the publication of such ill founded news could cast a shadow over crimes against humanity and war crimes against the oppressed Palestinian nation.

"It should be noted that Cristiano Ronaldo traveled to Iran on September 18 and 19 to play in an official soccer match and was very well received by the people and the authorities. His sincere and humane meeting with Fatemeh Hamami was also praised and admired by both the people and the country's sports authorities."

The fake news claimed the Iranian judiciary imposed this sentence on the 38-year-old Portuguese Al-Nassr star, who is romantically involved with Georgina Rodriguez, after he travelled to Tehran with his team in September to play Persepolis in the Asian Champions League, a match which CR7's side won 2-0.

During that visit to Iran, the footballer gave painter Fatemeh Hamami a signed jersey, hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek as a token of gratitude for giving him two of her works created using her feet.

The false reports claimed that numerous Iranian lawyers filed charges against Ronaldo for this behavior, supposedly because under Iranian law touching an unmarried woman is tantamount to adultery.