The mother of the Everton fan who had his phone smashed by Cristiano Ronaldo has blasted the Manchester United superstar's "rude" and "weak" apology.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was caught on camera smacking a phone out of the hand of 14-year-old Toffees supporter Jacob Harding as he made his way back to the Goodison Park dressing rooms following United's 1-0 defeat. The Merseyside Police have since launched an investigation into the incident to determine whether any kind of criminal offence took place on Saturday afternoon.
Emotions were running high after United suffered yet another disappointing result and Ronaldo let his temper get the better of him as he smashed the phone. Later on that night, the 37-year-old took to Instagram to address the incident and issue an apology.
Ronaldo wrote: "It’s never easy to deal with emotions in difficult moments such as the one we are facing. Nevertheless, we always have to be respectful, patient and set the example for all the youngsters who love the beautiful game. I would like to apologize for my outburst and, if possible, I would like to invite this supporter to watch a game at Old Trafford as a sign of fair-play and sportsmanship."
However, Jacob's mother Sarah Kelly has revealed she did not think much of Ronaldo's apology and took issue with the fact the United No.7 did not try to contact them privately to resolve the matter. She added how her son is not interested in accepting the Portugal skipper's offer to go and watch United.
"The apology or lack of apology was what angered me even more,’ Sarah told The Telegraph. "I thought, 'How rude – you are telling everybody you have apologised and you haven’t'. OK, you have put it out to social media but…you should be apologising to my son.
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"He [Ronaldo] had several hours to ponder on it. He should have found out our contact details…been private, said he had spoken to us and released something. I would have been happy with that. I was quite shocked United hadn’t put a statement out asking us to get in touch, just something a bit heartfelt, rather than Ronaldo saying the supporter can come to me.
"That comes across really, really rude to me. Why would we, as Everton fans, go to United? He put, 'this supporter'. It doesn’t state if he was an Everton supporter or a United supporter. It’s just a very, very weak apology in my opinion." The FA are thought to be looking into the incident, but United are satisfied with the apology Ronaldo has provided and will not be taking the matter further.
Jacob's mother also revealed that her son has struggled to sleep ever since the incident at Goodison Park occurred and has no interest in taking Ronaldo up on his offer of coming to watch the Red Devils in action at Old Trafford.
