Chelsea players make incredible gesture to Diogo Jota's family after tragic death
Chelsea will use their prize money from the Club World Cup to make a generous donation to the family of Diogo Jota. The Blues beat Paris Saint-Germain in the final of the competition on July 13 and have decided to put some of the money towards honouring Jota and Andre Silva.
Jota and his brother tragically died in a car crash in Spain in early July in an accident that plunged the football world into mourning. The Liverpool forward was 28 years old and had recently married his partner with whom he shares three children, while Silva was just 25 at the time of his death.
Chelsea 's triumph at the Club World Cup came amid the backdrop of tragedy, with winger Pedro Neto particularly affected, having played alongside Jota at Wolves and with Portugal. He dedicated their win over PSG to Jota and Chelsea have now made the incredible decision to donate money to the bereaved family.
The Athletic reports that the decision was made between the club and the players to donate some of their prize money to Jota's family. Chelsea earned around £84million for winning the competition and a £11.4m fund has been distributed equally between the players who featured in the tournament, giving each player around £368,000.
The club and players have now decided that an equal payment will also be made to Jota's family. Jota and Silva were laid to rest on July 5 in Gondomar, near Porto in Portugal, with many prominent figures from the football world attending the funeral.
Speaking before the final against PSG, Neto said: 'It's been really difficult in the last few days and I just want to leave a message that this final is for him and his brother. It's a really tough time for me, difficult to speak about it and let's hope I can do it for him.
'But I want to dedicate this final to him and his family and show my support in these difficult times for them.'
Liverpool have retired Jota's No.20 shirt and announced that a permanent memorial sculpture would be created at Anfield. Arne Slot 's players will also have a 'Forever 20' emblem on their shirts for the 2025/26 season.
The club have said that profits from shirts with "Diogo J 20" will go to the LFC Foundation, the club's charity. Liverpool record goalscorer Ian Rush, Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish and Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt laid the wreaths in the Liverpool end at Wembley ahead of the Community Shield on Sunday.
Liverpool fans paid their respects to Jota with a rousing rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone" before kick-off.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
18 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Antoine Semenyo praised for his reaction as Bournemouth express anger over racist abuse
Antoine Semenyo went on to score two excellent counter-attacking goals in the second half for Bournemouth after allegedly being subjected to racist abuse on the sidelines Bournemouth have expressed their shock and anger that the opening match of the Premier League season was overshadowed by an incident of alleged racist abuse towards Antoine Semenyo. The match between the Cherries and Liverpool on Friday night at Anfield was halted in the first half after Semenyo reported that a supporter had said something to him while he was preparing to take a throw-in. Liverpool later released a statement condemning the alleged actions while confirming that the police are now investigating. Arne Slot's side went on to win the game 4-2 with late goals from Federico Chiesa and Mohamed Salah. But Semenyo produced a remarkable performance in the second half, scoring twice to drag the away side back into the game. The Bournemouth winger kept his composure to tuck in David Brooks' cross for 2-1 before charging forwards on another counter-attack to find the bottom corner for 2-2. While full of admiration for his team-mate, captain Adam Smith expressed fury at full-time. "Totally unacceptable. Kind of in shock it happened in this day and age. I don't know how Ant has carried on playing and come up with his goals," Smith told Sky Sports. "He's a little bit down. Something needs to be done. Taking a knee has taken no effect. We've supported him and hopefully he'll be OK. I wanted him to react [after scoring], that's what I'd have done. I'd have gone straight over there. It shows what kind of man he is to report it to the ref and carry on. Fair play to Ant. "It's more anger. Shocked. I said to the ref I wanted him removed immediately but the police went and sorted it. The Liverpool players were very supportive to Ant and the rest of the team. Just so angry. "We've had discussions with the Premier League about it so they have been taking it seriously. I don't know what else we can do. We've been doing it for a long time now and no-one is getting it. I just feel sorry for Ant and he's had to take that. The whole country is watching and it's shocking." Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola added: "The referee explained to both managers straight away the situation. It is a big shame we have to start talking about these things. "The Liverpool manager and the players they feel it the same. Everyone understands that these things have to be out of everywhere but especially football. "Now we have to go again to talk to the police and the officials. I think for sure he (Semenyo) will have it in his head [now] and it shouldn't be like this." Kick it Out said in a statement: "Thirty minutes into the first Premier League game of the season, and Bournemouth 's Antoine Semenyo is racially abused by someone in the crowd. "Two nights ago, Tottenham 's Mathys Tel was racially abused online. This is a stark reminder of an ugly reality: black players are facing this every week. "We stand in solidarity with Antoine and can't praise him enough for his courage in calling this out after such a distressing episode before going on to score twice. "Anthony Taylor and his refereeing team also deserve credit for acting swiftly and decisively. We will keep pushing to kick this disgusting behaviour out of the game through punishments, accountability and education, but football still has a long way to go."
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
New-look Man City aim to bounce back amid uncertainty
Manchester City head into the new season with the cloud of financial charges still hovering over them, while there are questions on how quickly their new signings will integrate into the been dominant with four successive Premier League titles, Pep Guardiola's all-conquering side endured a bitterly disappointing 2024-25 finished third in the table, failed to win a major trophy and suffered a shock last-16 exit from the Fifa Club World Cup at the hands of Saudi Arabia's will be a wounded beast, but there is uncertainty as to how they will respond to last season's struggles and whether Guardiola can build another title-winning machine."We are ready," said the Spaniard. "We had a short pre-season but a really good one and we are ready to go, to enjoy the good moments and bounce back as soon as possible."I cannot assure you, but the signs are that we can be better. Maybe we can be worse! You never know. But I think it will be better." Charges verdict rumbles on Last Sunday, the giant electronic advertising board close to Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium served a reminder it has been "246 days since Man City's FFP hearing ended".That has since ticked on to 252 days and we are no closer to knowing the outcome of City's 115 charges for allegedly breaching the Premier League's financial rules, which were first published in February hearing took place in front of an independent commission between September and December of last year, but there has been no indication as to when the findings will be have strongly denied the charges but, if found guilty, the commission could sanction a massive points deduction or the unthinkable scenario of relegation.A decision was widely expected to arrive in the first quarter of 2025 and boss Guardiola provided a timeline of "in one month" back in February, but that has now dragged into another sheer scale of charges and amount of evidence has led to October now being mooted for the time of the verdict, but there has been no official confirmation of club has declined to comment, while Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said they have "no influence" on the timing and it would be "wrong" for him to the meantime, it has been business as usual for striker Erling Haaland signed a new bumper contract which expires in 2034 and the club extended their kit partnership with Puma for a record £100m per season, making it the largest such deal in the Premier January, they have spent almost £400m on new signings as Guardiola reshaped his squad in an attempt to reclaim the Premier League trophy. Are City flying under the radar? It isn't that often Guardiola gets it wrong in the transfer market but of the four January signings, only Egypt forward Omar Marmoush can be classed as a success after scoring eight goals, including a hat-trick against defender Abdukodir Khusanov barely got a look-in after March, Brazilian centre-back Vitor Reis has now been sent on loan to Girona, while there appear doubts over whether Guardiola trusts midfielder Nico summer strategy was to bolster the squad by addressing the problem areas, bringing in Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolves to fill the hole at left-back, while box-to-box Dutchman Tijjani Reijnders will bring much-needed energy to the legend Kevin de Bruyne and Jack Grealish left in the summer and it may fall to Frenchman Rayan Cherki to pick up the mantle of attacking creativity, while James Trafford will provide goalkeeping competition to Ederson as the Brazilian enters the final year of his desperately missed the presence of Rodri in the middle of the park during an injury-ravaged season for the club and the Spaniard is unlikely to be fully fit until September after a dressing room has lost serial winners in De Bruyne, Grealish and former captain Kyle Walker so, while Guardiola will be hoping the new boys quickly grasp his vision and settle in immediately, are City flying under the radar?Aside from the acquisition of Trafford from Burnley, City did the bulk of their transfer business in June before the Club World Cup, while signings such as Florian Wirtz for champions Liverpool and Viktor Gyokeres at Arsenal caught the sources have pointed to new captain Bernardo Silva having the experience to galvanise a side which underperformed to their previous high standards last term, when he leads them out against Wolves on Saturday (kick-off 17:30 BST).One insider said "don't count us out" and it would be foolish to do so for a side that has been champions in six of the last eight seasons. Guardiola to relight fire - or is the end near? Last season will have been a shock to Guardiola, finishing outside of the top two for only the second time in 15 seasons as manager at City, Barcelona and Bayern a 10th season with City, the 54-year-old is currently the Premier League's longest-serving boss and has said he will take a break from management once he the great Sir Alex Ferguson did over at neighbours Manchester United, Guardiola will need to show he still has the desire to re-energise himself and his team in an attempt to overthrow Arne Slot's Liverpool and return to the summit only has the playing squad been refreshed, but the coaching staff too. Jurgen Klopp's former Liverpool assistant Pep Lijnders has joined in a similar role, and set-piece coach James French has also arrived from the Reds, while Kolo Toure was promoted from the youth former City and Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann has cast doubt over whether Guardiola has the ability to go again, telling BBC Radio 5 Live: "When a season starts, you've got to light a fire in a team, with the fans, and make people believe. And I'm not sure he's got that fire any more."I'm not sure they're going to win another big title under Guardiola. I'd be surprised, to be honest."Spanish football expert Guillem Balague added: "The fire that we see now - what we see in his eyes, in the jokes with his players and how he returned refreshed from the summer - can that continue until the end of the season?"He has a two-year contract until 2027 and 100% by the end of the two years he will not continue with club football. But nobody can say that may not happen earlier, that this could be his last season."Is he excited because it is his last season or is it because he really feels he has a team in his hands which he can mould and create a new Manchester City, a third version?"If he sees himself having the ability to continue then we will see a second year but we will not see a third. We are seeing the end of Pep Guardiola as a manager."
Glasgow Times
an hour ago
- Glasgow Times
Diogo Jota tribute ‘powerful' as Liverpool players deal with emotion
The Portugal striker died in a car crash with his brother Andre Silva six weeks ago and his family were back at Anfield to see the outpouring of emotion which left Mohamed Salah, scorer of the fourth goal, in tears at the final whistle. 'The main emotion I think should be how impressive and how powerful the tribute for Diogo was,' said Slot. Liverpool manager Arne Slot (centre) stood during a minute's silence in memory of Diogo Jota (Peter Byrne/PA) 'The banner that the Kop showed, the way 'You'll Never Walk Alone' was sung, the way they sung the song for Diogo before the game, in the first minute, after 20 minutes, after the game. It was all so, so impressive and so powerful. 'And then there was even a game that ended in 4-2 where a lot of things happened. 'I actually didn't want to go in after the game because I found it so special, how our fans reacted today. 'I think Mo felt, after the game, how special that was. He probably also felt the emotion because we all knew his (Jota's) family is here, his wife is here, his children are here. 'For them, it might be special to hear how much he is loved over here. What the fans did. But we also feel the emotions of how much grief they still have. 'That mixed emotions maybe led to Mo being emotional. I think I felt the same without being in tears, but I definitely felt the same emotions.' On the football front Slot believes Federico Chiesa has a future at the club after the almost-forgotten Italy international came off the bench to score their decisive third goal. The forward, who barely played in his first season after struggling with fitness, volleyed home in the 88th-minute after seeing his team-mates concede a 2-0 lead given to them by new signing Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo. But after Antoine Semenyo, the subject of an isolated incident of alleged racist abuse in the first half, scored twice, fan-favourite Chiesa registered his first Premier League goal, which was followed by a customary opening-day goal for Salah. 'The fans sung for him so many times last season and it is very nice for him to give them something in return. Unbelievable atmosphere in the final minutes,' added Slot on the Italy international, who looked destined for a move this summer. 'He is here at Liverpool and I have no reason to believe it is going to change. He had a hard time last season getting his fitness ready and unfortunately for him, he then missed the Asian tour. 'At 2-2 you need a number nine: I brought him in and he delivered and that is always positive for your future at the club.' Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola praised Semenyo for his reaction to the first-half incident, which saw play halted so referee Anthony Taylor could speak to both managers. 'I didn't notice live but straight away Anthony explained the situation,' he said. 'It is a shame that in the first game of the Premier League, playing a really good game, we have to start talking about these things. 'It is a shame because the news will be about this thing. It is something that is still a big problem and we should be talking about what a good game it has been. He is really, really good at football. — AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) August 15, 2025 'In the heat of the moment I think Antoine understood the situation. He was calm. We asked him if he is OK to continue. 'The head always goes in these things and for sure he is asking why this is happening today. 'Antoine started the season the same way he finished the last one. Different goals, the first more a combination to the left and he arrives well, the second one more he takes it by himself and a good finish.'
