A key ‘personal reason’ behind Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence from Diogo Jota can explain why he was not at his funeral on Saturday.
Jota, 28, was laid to rest at Gondomar cemetery in Portugal on Saturday afternoon after he and his brother, Andre Silva, 25, were killed when their Lamborghini crashed in the early hours of Thursday morning in northern Spain.
The accident came just 11 days after Jota had married childhood sweetheart Rute Cardoso, also 28, who is the mother of his two sons Dinis, four, and Duarte, two as well as his baby daughter Mafalda, who is just eight months old.
On Saturday, mourners exclusively told MailOnline that they were shocked by Ronaldo’s absence given his role as the captain of the Portuguese national team.
Ronaldo, 40, skippered his side to Nations League glory in a team that Jota was also part of as Portugal beat Spain 5-3 on penalties to win the tournament on June 8.
But his decision not to attend Jota’s funeral can be explained by previous tragedies in Ronaldo’s personal life.
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo did not attend Diogo Jota’s funeral
Diogo (right) and his brother Andre Silva, 25, (left) were both killed in a car accident in Spain on Thursday
Jota pictured during his wedding with wife Rute Cardoso – who he shares three young children with – on June 22
According to Portuguese outlet Record, Ronaldo may have opted not to attend the event due to sensitivities surrounding the death of his father, Jose Diniz Aveiro, who died in September 2005 – when Ronaldo was just 20 years old.
Ronaldo was shocked to hear of Jota’s passing but is said to have not made the journey as he did not wish for his presence to overshadow the importance of people paying their respects to Jota and his brother.
While the Al-Nassr forward has come in for criticism from some quarters over his absence – he was publicly defended by his sister Katia on social media.
Taking to Instagram, she wrote: ‘When my father died, in addition to the pain of loss, we had to deal with a flood of cameras and curious onlookers at the cemetery and everywhere we went.
‘And attention was not what it is today in terms of access…At no time were we (the children) able to leave the chapel; it was only possible at the time of the burial, such was the commotion.
‘At the funeral, there were presidents, coaches of the national team at the time, such as Luís Filipe Scolari, etc. I don’t remember seeing any of them. And they certainly greeted me. The pain blinded me.
‘About pain/family and real support… You will never know what it means until you go through it. If someone sends me a message criticising anything my brother does, I will block it (completely ignore it), that is, they will only do it once.
‘It’s getting tiring. The fanaticism. The criticism for nothing, I repeat nothing… Sick society… We all have families.
The funeral of Liverpool and Portugal footballer Diogo Jota was held in Gondomar on Saturday
Ronaldo faced some criticism for his absence but sister Katia Aveiro has jumped to his defence
‘It is absurdly shameful to watch TV channels/commentators/social networks emphasising an absence (wise) rather than respectfully honouring the pain of a mutilated family destroyed by the loss of two brothers. I am even ashamed to watch. Regrettable.
‘And so the world goes… Society and opinion. Today they are worthless. They themselves have become bottomless pits. I feel sorry… And war is also like that. Believe me. Human evil is also a war. And every day we have to fight against it. And so it goes.’
Support from his sister comes after Ronaldo shared an emotional tribute of his own to Jota on social media following his passing.
He wrote: ‘It doesn’t make sense. We were just together in the national team, and you had just gotten married. To your family, your wife and your children, I send my condolences and wish them all the strength in the world.
‘I know you will always be with them. Rest in peace, Diogo and Andre. We will all miss you.’
