A mother whose teenage son was allegedly assaulted by Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo is refusing to meet the footballer.
In footage shared over the weekend, Ronaldo, 37, was seen motioning towards the ground with his hand as he and the rest of his team left the Goodison Park pitch following their defeat to Everton.
According to Sarah Kelly, the mother of 14-year-old Everton fan Jake Harding, her son's hand was bruised by the Portuguese striker after he allegedly smashed a phone out of the youngster's hand while he was filming Man United players at the end of the game.
She told the Liverpool Echo that she regarded the incident as an assault.
Ronaldo has since apologized for the incident, although didn't confirm nor deny whether he had indeed smashed the phone out of Jake's hand.
Check out the video below:Now, Kelly has revealed in an interview with Sky News that a representative for the player had gotten in touch and invited her and her son to meet him at Old Trafford.
Kelly, however, has refused the offer.
"I've got nothing to say to [him]," she said. "Why should I travel to Old Trafford? Why would 'a Blue' want to go to [visit] 'a Red'?"
The mother from Upton, Merseyside, also called into question how genuine Ronaldo's apology was.
"If he [Ronaldo] was genuine, I think he should have turned around at the moment of the incident, picked Jake's phone up and been like, 'I'm sorry'," she told Sky News. "That was the biggest laugh for me: 'sportsmanship'. When you can do that to a 14-year-old boy. That's not sportsmanship at all."
Ronaldo took to Instagram on Saturday to apologize to Jake, writing: "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."
As reported by ITV, police in Merseyside are currently investigating the incident, which took place on Saturday.
