A website for a foundation which claimed to raise almost £50,000 in Diogo Jota’s name for good causes has disappeared.
Liverpool and the player’s family denied any connection with the ‘Diogo Jota Foundation’ on Thursday as The Telegraph reported on its activity.
The ‘foundation’ website, established three days after Jota’s death in July, said it had raised £47,715 for ’empowering youth, uplifting communities, and bringing the joy of football to all’.
But now the domain – diogojotafoundation.org – shows a blank page.
The website had featured logos for Liverpool FC, Unicef, Allianz and the Portuguese Platform of Development NGOs [non-governmental organisations], but three of them denied working with the foundation when approached by The Telegraph.
Moreover, the Charity Commission has confirmed to The Telegraph that the foundation never applied to register with them. It is obligatory to register if the charity’s income exceeds £5,000 per annum and if is based in England or Wales.
A website claiming to be for a ‘Diogo Jota Foundation’ has shut down after raising almost £50,000 – despite Liverpool and the player’s family knowing nothing of it
This was the homepage of the ‘foundation’, which claimed to be raising money for good causes
But as of Friday morning, after reports of the website, the domain shows a blank page
The ‘foundation’ claimed that its objective was to ‘honour the legacy of Diogo Jota’.
‘Through football, education, and hope, we carry forward the light he left behind – creating opportunity, joy, and lasting impact for the youth of Gondomar and beyond,’ a statement read on the site.
‘The Diogo Jota Foundation was conceived in 2025 with one goal: to celebrate Diogo’s incredible journey from a small youth academy in Gondomar to one of Europe’s most respected footballers – and to pay that spirit forward.’
Elsewhere, the three pillars of the foundation were described as football programmes, scholarships and mentoring, and community partnerships.
‘We create opportunities for young talent through free football camps and grassroots training in underdeveloped communities; empower students with scholarships, academic resources, and life coaching to thrive beyond sports; [and] collaborate with local organizations to promote health, inclusion, and youth engagement across regions,’ is how the ‘foundation’ described its activity.
It claimed to have given out 25,000 meals, sponsored 300 schoolchildren, and set up 50 local partnerships.
Even more curiously, the ‘foundation’ only accepted payments in the form of cryptocurrency.
It directed users off-site to a platform where they could pay with ‘USDT, ETH and other crypto through NOWPayments securely’.
But NOWPayments CEO Kate Lifshits told The Telegraph that they had not handled any payments for the foundation.
‘We are aware that the NOWPayments payment system may have been used for fraudulent fundraising activities on behalf of a foundation that is not affiliated with the Diogo Jota family,’ she said.
‘I can confirm that no payments for this foundation have been processed through NOWPayments. As soon as we became aware of the alleged fraud, we stopped providing our services to the project immediately. Our widget is not active on the foundation’s website.’
Liverpool denied any affiliation with the mystery organisation when approached by The Telegraph, but last month announced plans to establish a grassroots football programme in Jota’s name via the LFC Foundation.
Earlier this month, LFC Retail brought out a commemmorative tee-shirt featuring the Portuguese’s silhouette, lyrics from his chant, and a ‘Forever 20’ message to help raise money for their programme.
