Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo set to take on English FA, will contest misconduct charge

Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag on Wednesday confirmed Cristiano Ronaldo will defend himself against the charge of improper conduct levied against him by the English Football Association. Ronaldo was charged by the English FA after he smashed an Everton fan's phone out of his hand in frustration after Manchester United's loss against the club last season.

The incident happened in April this year when Ronaldo was caught on camera knocking a phone out of the hand of an Everton supporter, who was trying to film the United players heading back to the dressing room after their 1-0 defeat. A frustrated Ronaldo slapped the phone out of the young fan's hand leaving him with a bruised hand and a smashed phone.

The Manchester United star was cautioned by the police over the incident before he was charged with a breach of Rule E3 by the English Football Association over his conduct. Amid calls for strict punishment from the fan's mother, Ronaldo has decided to contest the charge.

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Manchester United manager Ten Hag said he had a discussion with the Portuguese forward on the matter and he said he will not accept the charge. "We spoke about that. He will not accept it," Ten Hag said confirming Ronaldo's stand on the matter.

Also Read:Mother of fan, whose phone was smashed by Cristiano Ronaldo, demands 'right punishment' for Man Utd star

The case will be heard by an FA panel in the upcoming days. Earlier, the mother of the 14-year-old autistic Everton fan Jacob had called for the 'right punishment' for Ronaldo stating that her son still talks about what happened to him that particular day and is yet to have his phone back.

“Let's hope he finally gets the right punishment. He can't keep getting away with it. His behaviour 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," the 14-year-old's mother Kely had said.

Ronaldo recently scored his 700th career goal in United's 2-1 win against Everton in the Premier League. The Portuguese legend became the first player in history to complete 700 goals in his club career as United bounced back to winning ways after their crushing 6-3 defeat against Manchester City in their last Premier League outing.

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Ronaldo has had a sluggish start to the season but will be hopeful of returning to his best after scoring his first Premier League goal of the season against Everton. Manchester United manager Ten Hag said he is committed to supporting Ronaldo in getting back to his best suggesting that he is getting in better shape and will contribute more going forward.

"I want to support him as good as possible. So we have a certain demand on players, what we expect from him in certain positions on the pitch and what I do, as with other players, is I want to get the best out of them," said Ten Hag.

"He is getting in better shape now and I am happy with that, so he can contribute more to the squad and I'm sure he will do," he added.