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Ronaldo's Miami Field Invader Pardoned
- NBCSports.com, Wednesday, December 18, 2013 10:41 AM
Ronald Gjoka, the 20-year-old man who ran onto the field at Miami’s Sun-Life Stadium and hugged Cristiano Ronaldo during the International Champions Cup final between Real Madrid and Chelsea last summer, has seen the charges against him dropped, his lawyer revealed on Tuesday. After embracing and chatting briefly with Ronaldo during the game on Aug. 7, Gjoka, who is not a U.S. citizen, was promptly removed from the stadium and charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing.
If convicted, Gjoka would have lost his student visa and been kicked out of the country. However, upon hearing of his legal predicament, Ronaldo wrote a letter to the Miami prosecutor asking that the charges be dropped. On Tuesday, Gjoka’s lawyer Richard Hujber revealed that the assistant district attorney had agreed.
“We are happy to announce the prosecutor today dropped the charges against our client in open court,” Hujber said. “In particular, we thank Cristiano Ronaldo for all his assistance and consideration in this important matter involving a young college student with an extremely bright future.”
After being let off for his misdeeds, Gjoka said: “My dream now is just to see [Ronaldo] again to say thanks.”
