The mother of the 14-year-old autistic Everton fan allegedly assaulted by Cristiano Ronaldo has rejected the superstar’s invitation to her son to watch a game at Old Trafford.
Reports had it that Merseyside police are investigating the incident of Ronaldo slapping a mobile phone out of an Everton fan’s hand following Manchester United’s defeat to the Toffees on Saturday.
Ronaldo published an apology on Instagram for his actions before inviting the fan to watch a United home game.
“I would like to invite this supporter to watch a game at Old Trafford as a sign of fair play and sportsmanship,” he wrote.
On the other hand, this invitation has been rejected by the boy’s mother, Sarah Kelly, who later explained why she rejected the offer during an interview with the Liverpool Echo.
“United have handled it terribly and it’s just made things even worse to be honest,” she said.
“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.”
She went on to say that this was her son’s decision.
“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,” she stated.
“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.”
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