Alex Morgan has been nominated for The Best FIFA Women’s Player award and will be attending the gala in Milan, where Cristiano Ronaldo will be finding out if he has won the men’s equivalent.
Having tweeted out an article about the Portuguese player earlier in the year, some believe an encounter between Morgan and Ronaldo could be awkward.
“Now this is great journalism,” was the line tweeted out by the Women’s World Cup winner as she linked to a piece about Ronaldo titled ‘Ronaldo is an icon of corruption In sports’.
It came during the period of media focus on the sexual assault allegation against the player, an allegation that he was ultimately not prosecuted for.
Speaking to Sports Illustrated, Morgan reflected on her relationship with the Juventus player.
“When you look at this story in particular, I think there’s too much evidence to cover up and I think at the end of the day money helps put stories down,” she said.
“The charges were dropped, so he can and does continue playing.
“And he’s not the only person that this is happening to, but he is one of – if not the most – famous footballers in the world right now, so obviously he’s garnering attention on this.
“I think it’s important to continue to support women who are in vulnerable and scary situations where they don’t have a lot of support.
“That’s not to say that I don’t think he’s one of the best footballers in the world, but that has nothing to do with it.
“What he does as a job and him entertaining people on the football field has nothing to do with who he might be as a person or the actions that he may have taken.”
Morgan insisted that an encounter with Ronaldo in Milan wouldn’t be as awkward as others have suggested.
“I don’t anticipate approaching him any differently than I would approach anyone else who I meet,” she said.