Cristiano Ronaldo faces two inquiries over Everton fan incident, as Mum rejects apology
Cristiano Ronaldo is facing inquiries from both the police and the FA over the incident with an Everton fan at Goodison Park, The Telegraph reports.
The Portuguese star apologised on his Instagram page after footage emerged of him slapping what turned out to be a phone out of a Toffees’ supporters hand, with the youngster’s mother then telling the Liverpool Echo her son had been “assaulted”.
She has now dismissed the apology as “weak” and “really, really rude” while both the FA and the police have confirmed they will be speaking to the 37-year-old as well as both clubs.
Sarah Kelly is quoted in The Telegraph saying: “Jacob [her son] is obsessed with Everton and football. It’s his passion. It just took a complete shine off the game, the win, the experience.
“I’m not even thinking of the day I had with him, the nice time before the incident. I’m just thinking of the last five seconds.
“It has completely spoilt it. It’s shocking.”
Fallout
There looks to be little prospect of a speedy resolution to the situation for the former Juventus and Real Madrid star.
The 1-0 defeat thanks to Anthony Gordon’s goal, and a gash to his leg, frustrated him to the point of lashing out.
His side are struggling to qualify for the Champions League and in his post on social media he said: “It’s never easy to deal with emotions in difficult moments such as the one we are facing.”
At the same time though, Frank Lampard’s side have been struggling to stay in the Premier League, yet none of his players have whacked any fans.
The treatment star players receive at the hands of rival supporters can at times be awful, but that doesn’t excuse allegedly hitting a 14-year-old who is reportedly autistic.
As much as the match has turned out to be a terrible one for the red side of Manchester, it was an excellent one for the blue half of Merseyside.
After three games in a week, the players have until next Wednesday to regroup as they look to build on the win when they face Leicester (20 April).
In other Everton news, Times chief football man Henry Winter has hailed the performance of “one of the nicest men” in football at Goodison.
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