The latest twist in the saga.
The mother of the Everton fan who had his phone smashed by Cristiano Ronaldo has confirmed that her son has rejected his invitation to meet him at Old Trafford.
Jake Kelly was attending his first-ever game.
14-year-old Jake Kelly was attending Everton’s game against United, where the Toffees won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Anthony Gordon.
Jake, who has autism and dyspraxia, was at Goodison Park for the first time and as the players walked towards the tunnel at full-time, he began filming to capture the moment.
After beginning to film the leg of the injured Ronaldo, the forward allegedly smashed the phone out of his hand, leaving Jake suffering from pain in his thumb and a bruised hand.
The 37-year-old had issued an apology to the 14-year-old and offered him an invite to Old Trafford as a way of saying sorry, however Ronaldo’s apology was slammed by mother Sarah.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been accused of smashing a fan’s phone after Man United’s defeat to Everton 😬
🎥 @evertonhub pic.twitter.com/pTWgUpkLCa— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) April 9, 2022
Jake’s mother Sarah has said her son has turned down the offer from Ronaldo.
And Sarah has now confirmed that her son has turned down the offer to meet and speak with Ronaldo in person, while also criticising the response of United.
“United have handled it terribly and it’s just made things even worse to be honest,” she explained to the Liverpool Echo when asked about the invite.
“The way I see it is, if someone assaulted him in the street and then asked us to go around for dinner, we wouldn’t. Just because he’s Cristiano Ronaldo, why would we do it? It’s like we owe him a favour, but I’m sorry, we don’t.
“We’ve kindly declined the offer to go to United because Jake doesn’t want to go there and he doesn’t want to see Ronaldo. He’s made that pretty clear.
“They’re not my words, they’re my son’s words. At the end of the day, this is what it’s about. It’s affected him more than it’s affected me, so I have put everything to him to make his own mind up on – he doesn’t want to go to United, he doesn’t want to go to see Ronaldo. All that I’m saying right now is that it’s in the hands of the police.”
Merseyside Police confirmed last weekend that were investigating the incident, while the FA also added: “We are aware of the incident and will be seeking observations on the matter from both clubs and the player involved.”
United, however, are not expected to punish Ronaldo for the incident.
Related links:
- ‘Not fit to wear the shirt. Get out of our club!’ – Man United and the long wait.
- Gary Neville reveals he ‘never trusted Arsenal’ in Champions League hunt.
- Rio Ferdinand names the only signing who has improved at Man United.
