Why Cristiano Ronaldo was absent from teammates Diogo Jota’s funeral in Portugal

Portugal captain, Cristiano Ronaldo was notably absent as his teammate Diogo Jota and his brother, André Silva, were laid to rest.

Portugal’s most capped player and team captain was expected to fly to Gondomar near Porto to pay his last respects alongside Jota’s club and country teammates at a wake yesterday and the funeral mass this morning. But the 40-year-old dad-of-three was a no-show at both.

According to Majorcan newspaper, Ronaldo is holidaying on the island and was spotted in two upmarket destinations on board his £5.5 million 88-feet long Azimut Grande yacht, which boasts five luxury cabins and six bathrooms.

Liverpool teammates, Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva and Manchester United full-back Diogo Dalot, both Portuguese national team players, were among the footballers who packed into the church this morning – the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar.

Portuguese journalist Antonio Ribeiro Cristovao said shortly before today’s mass began: “He is the captain of the Portugal squad. Many expected he would attend.

“Diogo Jota was part of the team. Maybe there are some reasons we don’t know.

“If he doesn’t attend, he has to explain the reason. He has that responsibility. He is the captain.” Sports journalist and commentator Luis Cristovao called his absence “inexplicable” as the funeral mass got underway without Cristiano, saying: “Being inexplicable, any justification will fall short of the shortcoming he committed with his absence.”

And TV sports commentator Pedro Fatela, added of the Al-Nassr striker’s no-show: “This absence will be much discussed. There must be justifications in the coming days.

“We will know why Cristiano wasn’t able to travel to Gondomar to be present in this moment, but he is the captain.

“All of us were expecting, as all coaches and players were there, to have the captain side by side with his teammates.”

Meanwhile, Ronaldo posted an emotional tribute to the Liverpool winger and his footballer brother Andre Silva when he learned they had died in the early hours of Thursday after crashing in a 200mph £180,000 Lamborghini Huracan following a suspected tyre blowout.

Cristiano said: “Doesn’t make any sense. Just now we were together in the national team, just now you were married.

“To your family, to your wife and children, I send my condolences and wish them all the strength in the world. I know you will always be with them. R.I.P. Diogo and Andre We will all miss you.”

The siblings were on their way to the Spanish port city of Santander so Diogo, who had been advised against air travel following lung surgery, could take a ferry to the UK and head on to Liverpool.

Source: LIB