The fan whose phone was smashed by Cristiano Ronaldo following Manchester United's 1-0 loss to Everton has rejected the Portuguese superstar's invitation to watch a game at Old Trafford.
As Ronaldo was leaving the ground after the Red Devils' defeat on Saturday, he was seen smacking a young Everton supporter Jake Harding's phone out his hand while he was recording and smashing it on the ground. It is believed that this youngster was attending his first football game.
The 14-year-old's mother has since claimed that her son - who is autistic and has dyspraxia - was left traumatised by the incident.
There is already a police investigation into the incident, while Ronaldo has publicly apologised for his actions on social media.
In an Instagram post after the game, 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, the child's mother, Sarah, has stated that her son will not be accepting Ronaldo's invitation.
"United have handled it terribly and it's just made things even worse, to be honest," she told the Liverpool Echo.
"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.
"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. 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."
Source : 90min