The Football Association of Ireland has waived off a fine that was supposed to be imposed over an 11-year-old girl for entering onto the pitch during an international football match. The girl was running towards Cristiano Ronaldo during the match.
The incident happened at the Aviva Stadium during the Ireland-Portugal World Cup qualifier match on Thursday. The 11-year-old young footballer Addison Whelan from East Wall in north inner city of Dublin was excited to meet her hero Ronaldo on the ground. With that excitement she just jumped onto the pitch and started running towards the star. But the security guards ran after her and caught her while she ran up to the half way.
She was calling Ronaldo’s name and hearing that, the football giant asked the guards to leave her alone to him. She approached Ronaldo and was about to cry following the incident. But she just asked him for his jersey and Ronaldo gave it right away.
Later Addison told the RTE News that, the moment was ‘a dream come true’ situation. She also said a security guard told her that she would have to pay three grand fine for entering onto the pitch.
But FAI later confirmed that there would be no fine for the little girl. The young footballer is a member of the Shelbourne underage team and dreams to play for Ireland or Arsenal someday.
“We want to assure Addison that of course she will not face any fine for running onto the pitch and asking for Ronaldo’s jersey,” FAI media and football relations director Cathal Dervan said.
But he warned that such fines won’t be waived off in all circumstances.