Was she "groping" him?

Mint Media Sports chief executive Wong Li Lin has responded to criticism about the way she held on to Portuguese football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo's arm during his visit to Singapore Botanic Gardens on June 2.

@lse363 #spain #christianronaldo #botanicgarden ♬ Cupid - Twin Ver. (FIFTY FIFTY) - Sped Up Version - regex & bexter & Vraox

She told Shin Min Daily News: "I led him at the event as I knew what he was to do next. I just held his arm. When did I touch his other parts?"

Ronaldo was in Singapore to support a series of youth scholarships established by his long-time friend and philanthropist Peter Lim, who owns Mint Media Sports, which acquired the footballer's image rights in 2015.

Wong added: "Ronaldo is a football legend. Everyone loves him and wants to interact with him. And so did I, that’s all. I think if most of the netizens who left messages had the chance to meet him, they would do more.”

Netizens had left a number of nasty comments on the former Triple Nine star's Instagram post about Ronaldo with several calling her behaviour with him "unprofessional".

One wrote: "Why you need to hold him as if he’s handicapped ? Be professional and do your job properly and not get some free groping action."

Another commented: "Touching him like the aunty from the coffee shop."

TikToker Khan 7 posted a video that suggested the footballer looked irritated during the Singapore Botanic Gardens event because of the bodyguards, but most commented that it was because of Wong.

@khan_7yt Replying to @Sakura why is CR7 irritated? #ronaldo #cr7 #sgtiktok #fyp #singapore ♬ original sound - Subscribe to Khan 7