Diogo Jota tragically passed away in a car accident in July and Cristiano Ronaldo was criticised for not attending the funeral of his Portugal team-mate
Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t attend Diogo Jota’s funeral after the Liverpool star passed away in the summer
Cristiano Ronaldo has justified his decision not to attend the funeral of Diogo Jota, the Liverpool and Portugal forward who tragically died in a car accident last July.
Jota, along with his brother Andre Silva, was en route to the port city of Santander to catch a ferry back to the UK when their Lamborghini veered off the road and burst into flames near Zamora, Spain, following a tyre blowout.
Just two days after confirmation of Jota and Silva’s deaths, a funeral was held in their hometown of Gondomar, Portugal, attended by several former teammates. However, one prominent name was missing from the attendees – Ronaldo, who had played alongside Jota in the Portugal national team for six years, chose not to attend.
Ronaldo has now explained his absence from the funeral. In an interview with Piers Morgan, he stated: “People criticised me a lot, I don’t care about that because when you feel free you don’t have to worry about what the people say. But one of the things I don’t do is, after my father died I have never been to a cemetery again.
“Second, and you know my reputation, wherever I go it’s a circus. I didn’t go also because if I go the attention goes to me and I don’t want this kind of attention.
“I saw, and I’m not criticising it, when you go into a sensitive moment, you do interviews to speak about him and speak about football. Come on guys what is this..
Diogo Jota and Cristiano Ronaldo during a Portugal game(Image: Getty Images)
“This shows how secret life is sometimes, I am not part of that. If you want to be part of this world, good luck but I am going to be on the other side. People can continue to criticise me, but I felt good with my decision.”
Despite Ronaldo’s absence from Jota’s funeral, he offered a heartfelt tribute to the former Liverpool star and shared the devastating moment he learnt of his passing.
“I was with Geo (Georgina Rodriguez) alone,” the 40-year-old Ronaldo revealed. “I was in our period of rest in the gym in the morning. I didn’t believe it when they sent me the messages. I cried a lot, Geo can confirm that.
“It was a difficult moment for the country, for the family, for friends, for teammates. It was very sad news.”
Following medical advice against flying after lung surgery, Jota had planned to return to England by sea with his brother. The pair were travelling to Santander, with an overnight stop in Benavente, before catching a ferry back to Portsmouth.
The striker had been visiting his native Portugal after appearing as a substitute in the country’s penalty shootout triumph over Spain in the Nations League final on June 8. During his stay, he wed longtime partner and mother of his three children, Rute Cardoso, in a Porto ceremony just 11 days before his tragic death.
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