Cristiano Ronaldo knocked the phone out of the hands of an autistic child. The boy's mother did not accept the footballer's apology
Cristiano Ronaldo knocked the phone out of the hands of a child suffering from autism. The incident occurred on April 9, when the footballer and the team left the field after the match between Manchester United and Liverpool Everton. The boy, who was rooting for Everton, was filming on his phone as the players were leaving and lowered the phone when Ronaldo removed the gaiter from his injured leg. Noticing the camera, the player knocked the phone out of the child's hands. The boy's mother told the publication LiverpoolEcho that her son came to a football match for the first time, and Ronaldo was his idol.
My son filmed the Manchester United players leaving for a subtribe visit. After that, he lowered the phone lower, seeing the blood on Ronaldo's leg when he took off his gaiter. Jake lowered the phone to see what it was, didn't say a word. Ronaldo was walking by in a terrible mood, knocked the phone out of my son's hands and walked on. There was a bruise on his son's arm. I just can't believe I'm talking about this. The son was very upset, it completely discouraged him from going to the game again.
He has autism and dyspraxia, and this was the first football match he attended. We had an amazing day, but those seconds ruined everything. My son was always saying: "Ronaldo will be there." This is his idol. I could understand if Jake was waving the phone in front of his face, but that wasn't the case. He only wanted to examine the wound. This is a boy with autism who was attacked by a football player — that's my view as a mom.
Cristiano Ronaldo apologized for his behavior on social networks and offered the boy and his mother free tickets to a football match.
Coping with emotions is always not easy in such difficult moments as the one we faced. Nevertheless, we must always show respect, patience and set an example to all young people who love a beautiful game. I would like to apologize for my temper and, if possible, invite this fan to watch the game at Old Trafford as a sign of fair play and sporting behavior,
— the football player wrote on Instagram (belongs to Meta, recognized in the Russian Federation as an ex-extremist organization).
However, the boy's mother was not satisfied with this — she said that he should have asked for forgiveness personally from her son. The lack of his apology angered me even more. Of course, he asked for forgiveness, but he had to do it from my son. I would be glad if he found out our contacts and talked to us. I am shocked that the club has not released its statement on this occasion. If someone had done something like this on the street, they would have been detained, interrogated," The Telegraph quotes her as saying. She added that her son, who is more for Everton, does not need tickets for the Manchester United match.
Now law enforcement officers will deal with the incident.