‘How can Ronaldo sleep at night?’ - Mother of autistic boy demands justice

The FA charged Ronaldo over footage that appeared to show him knocking a phone out of an autistic boy’s hand in Man Utd’s 1-0 away defeat to Everton in April.

The mother of 14-year-old Jacob Kelly, whose phone Cristiano Ronaldo slapped out of his hand, has asked how the footballer sleeps at night.

Sarah Kelly has urged the FA to give Ronaldo the ‘right punishment’ and not let him ‘get away with it’ after the English football governing body charged the 37-year-old with ‘improper and/or violent’ conduct last week.

“Let’s hope he finally gets the right punishment,” she told the Daily Mirror.

“He can’t keep getting away with it. His behavior is unacceptable. I’m being hounded by people saying I’m dragging it up again, but I didn’t know anything about it. He should have been dealt with six months ago. My son talks about what happened to him every day. He still hasn’t had his phone back.”

Ronaldo has been charged with improper conduct by the FA after he slapped a mobile phone out of the hand of a teenage fan

Utd: 'We note the FA announcement in relation to Cristiano Ronaldo. We will be supporting the player in his response to the charge'pic.twitter.com/yumfKLKIQj

— Paul, Manc Bald and Bred (@MufcWonItAll) September 23, 2022

‘That’s not an apology, that’s an insult’

While the Merseyside Police funded repairs for the boy’s broken phone, the mother insists it should’ve been Ronaldo.

“He should have paid for that,” she continued.

“He’s the one who caused all this. It baffles me – he can assault a child and carry on as normal. How can he sleep at night knowing the distress he has caused to a young fan?”

As for Ronaldo’s offer to meet with the boy after apologizing, Kelly said: “He offered us to meet him and said he was sorry but said he had done nothing wrong. That’s not an apology, that’s an insult.”

Manchester United have said they will support Ronaldo in his response to the charge.