Picture Credit: Twitter
Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo has been charged by the English Football Association for an incident involving an Everton fan on 9 April 2022. The Portuguese forward appeared to knock Jacob Harding's phone from his hand as he left the pitch after United's loss at Goodison Park.
Merseyside Police confirmed that the matter had been dealt with. Ronaldo has been reprimanded by the FA for breaching rules. Ronaldo has been charged under FA Rule E3, which states, ‘a participant shall at all times act in the best interests of the game and not act in any manner which is improper or brings the game into disrepute.’
Manchester United also responded to the FA by saying they were helping the 37-year-old respond to the charges. “We note the FA announcement in relation to Cristiano Ronaldo. We will be supporting the player in his response to the charge," said a spokesperson for Manchester United.
Talking about the aftermath of the incident, the young fan’s mother Sarah Kelly claimed it was their first trip to watch Everton back in April, but it was 'ruined' by the alleged altercation that took place as Manchester United star left the pitch after the match.
She said, “We were right by the tunnel where they came walking past — my son was there videoing them all. And then he lowered his phone because Ronaldo had pulled down his sock and his leg was bleeding. He lowered his phone to see what it was — he didn't even speak. Ronaldo then just walked past, with a terrible, terrible temper and smashed the phone out of my son's hand and carried on walking.”
The 36-year-old added: “You can see by the bruise that he's made contact. I was crying, I was shook up, Jacob was in complete shock — he's autistic and he's got dyspraxia as well, so he didn't really digest what was happening until we got home. He's really upset and it's completely put him off going to the game again. He's an autistic boy and he's been assaulted by a football player, that's how I see it as a mum.”