السبت، 5 أكتوبر 2013
Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo is appealing to Florida officials to drop charges against an over-enthusiastic fan who was arrested during a match after rushing the field to embrace him.
Ronaldo,
one of the world's highest-paid athletes handled the incident calmly
during a match in Miami in August, even chatting with the 19-year-old
fan, and telling security officials to take it easy on him before he was
carted away.
The Portuguese striker is now asking prosecutors to drop charges
against Ronald Gjoka, a Canadian student who faces two counts of
disorderly conduct and trespassing as a result of the incident in front
of 70,000 fans during an International Champions Cup match in Miami
between Real Madrid and Chelsea.
"I was playing at Sun Life Stadium last month when a fan entered the
field," Ronaldo wrote in a hand-signed letter sent to the prosecutor.
"We hugged, and we spoke for a while, until security arrived to
escort him off the field. He was not aggressive or violent in ANY way,"
he went on, before explaining his concern that Gjoka could face
immigration problems if the misdemeanour charges are not dismissed.
"I understand your position and the importance of enforcing rules and
laws. However, I respectfully request that you and your office
reconsider this decision and dismiss the two criminal charges this young
man faces," he added.
Gjoka, who attends Palm Beach State Community College, spent a night and most of the next day in jail after the hug.
The letter was sent from Ronaldo's attorneys in Portugal after
Gjoka's attorney, Richard Hujber of Boynton Beach, contacted them a few
weeks after the incident.
Gjoka is a longtime Ronaldo fan and was wearing a No.7 Ronaldo shirt
when he ran onto the field after his 28-year-old idol scored two goals.
"He made my day. I grew up fatherless and I have looked up to Ronaldo
all my life," Gjoka told Reuters. "My adrenalin was running. I just
said to myself 'go for it. See if you can jump the barrier and give him a
hug.'"
Gjoka ran across the field and did a knee-slide, imitating Ronaldo's traditional goal-scoring celebration.
"I stood up and he greeted me and I told him 'Ronaldo, thank you for making my life complete.'"
The crowd sensed Ronaldo was not perturbed by the incident and
cheered during the hug, which lasted almost a minute as the pair
chatted.
Hujber said Gjoka, who had never been arrested before, realises he
made a mistake, but believes he has paid a big enough penalty already
after ending up in jail.
Hujber was hoping to get the charges dropped during a court hearing September 9.
"Unfortunately they haven't at this point been willing to consider that," he said.
Ronaldo's letter arrived three days after that hearing.
"Although Mr. Ronaldo's letter is very nice, it probably has no
bearing on the case because it is Sun Life Stadium that is the victim in
this case and they are the entity pressing charges," said Terry
Gonzalez-Chavez, a spokeswoman for the state attorney's office in Miami.
Sun Life Stadium, home of the NFL's Miami Dolphins, did not
immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment, but stadium
spokesman Jason Jenkins told The Miami Herald: "Generally speaking,
these laws are in place to protect the safety of the participants,
coaches and sideline personnel by discouraging fans from running onto
the field during the course of games."
Read more at: http://www.sport.net/liga-cristiano-ronaldo-appeals-for-fan-arrested-for-hug_50168
0 Comments:
Subscribe to:
تعليقات الرسالة (Atom)