I agree. They have all right to react in the way they feel is right. If they chose to give Ronaldo a cold shoulder, then fine. He is in the wrong here. He must own up and make amends, but he can’t expect to get gratification in return. It’s up to them if they want to meet him, accept a new phone or whatever he wants to do to make it better.
Ronaldo (37) Slaps Phone Out of Child’s (14) Hand | Charged after 5 months of deliberation
- Thread starter BenitoSTARR
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I agree. They have all right to react in the way they feel is right. If they chose to give Ronaldo a cold shoulder, then fine. He is in the wrong here. He must own up and make amends, but he can’t expect to get gratification in return. It’s up to them if they want to meet him, accept a new phone or whatever he wants to do to make it better.
You are right, this doesn't need to be a public matter, but when you choose to bathe in publicity for commercial gain it can have a flip side.
On the second bit. Ronaldo taking advantage of his exposure is earning, but the mother is pathetic. I see both as exactly the same, distasteful. It sickens me that our society rushes immediately to commodification. It's more widespread than just the Ronaldo and the scouse ma. The compensation culture here in Ireland is vile. Ronaldo the millionaire hawking KFC is at least as crass in my opinion as anything the boy or his mother have done. What have they actually done? Lots of the abuse towards them is speculation based mainly on them being scouse and also not being minted, and arises from a grown man striking out at a kid. They didn't start this nonsense.
The idea that millionaires actually earn their money always amuses me. The parent who works 60 hours a week never points to the dinner on the table and declares they earned it. Only a fecker who somewhere along the way got lucky, either by birth or the whim of the markets ever claims to have earned. Yeah, Ronaldo is gifted, and luckily for him in a thing our society deems marketable. There are many impoverished gifted people, we don't live in a meritocracy. Often the less one has, the more earning that has been done. The money/class-based judgments in this thread have been pretty eye-opening. A lot of it can be argued to be right at face value, but it's the selective takes that are telling.
"We live in a predatory capitalist society in which everything is for sale. Everybody is for sale, so there is ubiquitous commodification - be it of music, food, people, or parking meters." Cornel West
I never said she was. It’s more a general opinion of people that are taking advantage of these types of opportunities.
Tbf I don’t know the family’s intentions and I am not going to speculate either.
A new phone would have been enough if it was an accident. He is freaking Ronaldo he can and should do more than just a new phone to make this right. Whatever that more is is something they need to work out with the family and cash is not the only option. He could offer them a paid up trip for example. I don't like the idea of getting money out of it either.
Yeah, it's not great that it is the default, but it is. It's the same as celebrities using personal trauma to gain publicity and therefore cash.
Literally, nobody is saying Ronaldo targeted an autistic kid or even a kid for that matter. The point is if you are a petulant primadonna who feels that he can lash out indiscriminately because he lost a game then you have no control over the consequences which is reckless and negligent. Mostly he will get away with a strop because he is a cosseted celebrity. This time he didn't.
Yes he has but I bet he will be reprimanded much more than Carragher was.
Hey, don't shoot the messenger
Why are we comparing incidents? They were both inappropriate.
Also it’s amazing to see some people hate on the kids mother. She may not even have ran to the press, it was caught on camera, the press would have more than likely chased her down for some exclusive comment.
Making a mountain out of a molehill.
Maybe the police should have arrested those Everton fans who were giving the two-finger sign to our players, as they were going out of the pitch, just a few inches away from their face.
So Ronaldo couldn't get him a recent iPhone?
The UK are going to need more prisons.
I agree both were inappropriate, but Carragher got away lightly, when others that worked for sky Sports were sacked for less.
Is the Premier League investigating the incident also? Seems weird if they were OK with star players whipping children at games!
Sticking two fingers at opposition players happens at every team sporting event in the world, it’s not a crime. High profile athletes putting their hands on an annoying kid is a different issue.
Right, so what relevance does the kid being autistic have then?
Why do they keep bringing it up at every opportunity like its at all relevant...
Should be kept in mind partly due to the abuse the mother is receiving, for the terrible crime of being angry about what happened and not being a world class footballer
What the hell
OK, just try and think logically here, is it OK to smash a childs hand and break their phone?
I expected some bias from you, based on your username. But you are defending the kid.
Are you talking about the infamous McDonald's lawsuit?
She didn't "burn her hand". She got third degree burns, her vagina was welded shut by scalded skin. She was hospitalized for over a week, and had to undergo years of medical treatment.
I did not need that information tbh
I think you understood what I mean, even though my example when looked up on in details had some extreme content. Even so, hot coffee is hot coffee, eh? Spilling hot coffee is usually an accident in my books.
Firstly because it's a fact and secondly because it amplifies the disparity in the power dynamic and shows what can happen when grown up professional athletes lash out indiscriminately at a crowd of people. Any journalist aware of this point but leaves it out is not doing their job.
I did not need that information tbh
I think you understood what I mean, even though my example when looked up on in details had some extreme content. Even so, hot coffee is hot coffee, eh? Spilling hot coffee is usually an accident in my books.
More information you don't need: she was 79 years old, and weighed in at 38 kg when released from hospital. One of the items in contention is that, no, hot coffee is not hot coffee. The argument is that the coffee was too hot, dangerously hot, because McDonald's wants to provide hot coffee for when the coffee is consumed rather than served.
I'm all for talking about the litigiousness of especially American society, but this case is not really a good example of it and the reason it's so widely lampooned is a result of corporate propaganda. So I like to rant about it when it's brought up, even though you're right it doesn't fundamentally detract from your overall point.
Is this true? Football seems a special case when it comes to how vitriolic fans are.
Rant away. It was interesting to learn what happened - pretty sure we've all heard the story but not the proper details.
What? So if he was struggling at school and being bullied or his dad had abandoned the family 2 weeks before this happened then they should says "Autistic boy 14, being bullied, whose dad left them recently had his phone slapped out of his hand". Its not relevant.
It doesn't amplify anything. Its just used to whip people up into more of a froth about this which is clearly working.
Talking about power dynamics shows just how brainwashed some people have been when it comes to things like this. Ronaldo knew nothing about this kid. He didn't even know it was a kid when he slapped the phone away. Acting like he abused his power as a professional footballer any more or any less because the kid was autistic is just ridiculous.
What do you mean? People shouldn't abuse the mother because the son is autistic?
People shouldn't abuse the mother simply because its a scummy thing to do but then there are a lot of scummy people about. Thats kind of the trade off if you want to be in the public eye and benefit from publicity. You will get good and bad. Supporters and people who dislike you.
I have no idea if the mother is doing this for the right reasons or not. Only she can truly answer that but there are a hell of a lot of people out there who would do anything for a bit of money and fame so I have no idea.
What has the mother done?
That a parent has a right to be angry about what happened, and the fact that their child is neurodivergent and attending their first ever football match only adds more reasons to be upset about what occurred from the parents view. Yet the person in this scenario has faced abuse for a completely understandable reaction. So before people lambast her they should take a moment to think of it from her perspective.
Most of the world does it with the middle finger, only you Brits and some other weirdos use two.
When did you start engaging with the media? That's how it works. That's how you write a story. If the victim of a random assault has hard luck in the background it gets printed. Widow, single father, recently unemployed.
What would you like? "Human of non-specific age and gender holding phone that Ronaldo slapped has mildly bruised appendage?"
Ronaldo needs to see who is pointing the phone. It was a kid. He is 37. He was in the wrong. How the hell is that brainwashing? It's an old societal norm.
Your logic is that a grown man is not held responsible for hitting a kid because he didn't look at who he was lashing out at? Really? "Well your honor, in his defense it might have been a rapist holding the phone, in which case my client deserves a brave citizen award."
People are annoyed the kid stuck his phone at an injured Ronaldo, imagine if it was the kid who caused injury to the precious footballer. Would it still be a nothing story to you all?
Lets be honest, Ronaldo is a man child. If he is going to be prosecuted, it should be in line with other sentences for infants such as the naughty step, time out, or even the dreaded confiscation of his tablet.
Make it harassment to record someone without their permission, unless they are committing a crime.
I’d hate to have a phone stuck in my face. I refuse to even put pictures of my kids on the internet as I don’t feel I have their consent.
Would have the positive side of stopping people blocking my view of live music/ sport recording videos for Instagram they never watch.
Until then, Ronaldo should pay for any damage to the kids phone, his match ticket. And maybe like £500 compensation to make up for the inevitable bullying at school, caused by his Mum telling everyone he burst into tears, so she could get a payday.
I’d hate to have a phone stuck in my face. I refuse to even put pictures of my kids on the internet as I don’t feel I have their consent.
Would have the positive side of stopping people blocking my view of live music/ sport recording videos for Instagram they never watch.
Until then, Ronaldo should pay for any damage to the kids phone, his match ticket. And maybe like £500 compensation to make up for the inevitable bullying at school, caused by his Mum telling everyone he burst into tears, so she could get a payday.
Footballers are among the many celebrities that thrive on the attention that phones indicate and generate. Like some in this thread felt sorry for Ronaldo having his injury filmed. Ronaldo has spent a large part of his life drawing attention to injuries, some of which actually existed. It works both ways.
This is my favourite thread ever I think.
Deserves more appreciation
Ronaldo is a dick, the only punishment is to dock Liverpool 10 points and kick them out of the champions league.
What do get if you cross Ronaldo with a phone?
A slap.
A slap.
You're onto something here - what if the slap were a piece of performance art to remind the world about the unjust attention footballers receive, much of which is done via communication networks used on phones, and how unfair this is in times of conflict and rising energy bills?
Wouldn't be surprised if that were the case at all and equally how it would go over the head of your typical caf-ite.
Thanks for this. One of the very best Caf posters, criminally underrated.