Italian court ruled yesterday that George Clooney and Cristiano Ronaldo can be called as witnesses in ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s trial for having sex with an underage prostitute.

Lawyers for Mr Berlusconi want the Hollywood heart-throb and Real Madrid football star to help defend their client from charges of paying for sex with a 17-year-old girl and then pressuring police to get her freed from custody.

The two are being called in an attempt to discredit the woman, Karima El Mahroug, better known by her stage name as “Ruby the Heart Stealer”, who claims Mr Clooney was at a raunchy party she attended and says she had sex with Mr Ronaldo.

Mr Clooney had already denied the claim and has said that he could testify.

Mr Ronaldo dismissed Ms El Mahroug’s assertion as “totally false”. The two are among 78 star witnesses including several former government ministers, a Neapolitan singer and two famous starlets being called by the defence, according to the list approved yesterday, a court official said.

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