Revealed: The 'personal reason' behind why Cristiano Ronaldo didn't attend Diogo Jota's funeral
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.
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.
'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.
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Update: Date: 2025-07-19T16:00:09.000Z Title: Here's Jeremy Whittle's report from the Pyrenees. Content: Tadej Pogacar followed the Dutch Team Ineos rider home after Remco Evenepoel abandoned early in the stage John Brewin Sat 19 Jul 2025 17.57 CEST First published on Sat 19 Jul 2025 11.30 CEST 5.57pm CEST 17:57 5.39pm CEST 17:39 Tom Steels, the manager of Remco Evenepoel's team, Soudal-Quickstep, speaks: 'Like I said this morning, you hope for the best and hope it turns at the moment, but he didn't turn and he was suffering also. And then I think it's wiser not to continue and and just recover well. 'He's also, yeah, he still have some goals this year, maybe if he continue at the condition he had, that maybe the yeah, maybe the rest of the season has lost, so. I mean, yeah. and he was very disappointed.' 5.34pm CEST 17:34 Arensman, who has won on Sierra Nevada in Spain so is no mean climber, speaks: 'I don't know I can't really believe it's. 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'The team car was in the middle of the road to the Col de Peyresourde, about 200 metres from the top of the ascent, when it struck the spectator, who was cheering the riders on. Organisers told Reuters they were not aware of the accident while Ineos-Grenadiers were not immediately available for comment.' Updated at 5.23pm CEST 5.13pm CEST 17:13 And in the sprint through the mist, it's Pogacar – relentless – takes the bonus seconds from Vingegaard. Gall is fourth, and Florian Lipowitz comes in. Oscar Onley finishes fifth and is fourth on GC. Scotland's honour on this climb is repeated. Ben Healy, meanwhile, is back in the top 10 GC. Updated at 5.23pm CEST 5.10pm CEST 17:10 For once, the breakaway worked. What a win for him. One hundred metres from the line and he knows he's done. The Ineos drought is over. Updated at 5.12pm CEST 5.08pm CEST 17:08 0.5 km to go: Pogacar and Vingegaard thick as thieves. They won't be catching Arensman. Updated at 5.08pm CEST 5.07pm CEST 17:07 1 km to go: Arensman, into the mist and that steep final kilometre, and victory is in sight. What a ride from him. Updated at 5.08pm CEST 5.06pm CEST 17:06 1.5 km to go: The rest of the GC contenders shelling seconds as the two leaders cycle through incredible crowds. Arensman holds his lead. Big Sir Jim, on his fly-fishing trip with United execs, is surely watching. The Ineos drought might be over. Updated at 5.08pm CEST 5.04pm CEST 17:04 2.5km to go: Pogacar goes – and takes Gall – Vingegaard goes with Pogacar. Now another dig from the former champion. The gap to Arensman is 1.30'. Surely? Updated at 5.18pm CEST 5.03pm CEST 17:03 3km to go: Gall has 30 seconds on the GC group but must still make up 1' 40' or so on Arensman. Vingegaard attacks and Yates has no response. Pogacar holds the wheel, and looks unconcerned. Florian Lipowitz, in third, has to give everything to hold on. Onley is 15 seconds back – did he have a problem? Updated at 5.18pm CEST 4.59pm CEST 16:59 4 km to go: Rob Hatch on TNT says that Pippa York has been on to him and fears for Arensen. She knows how this feels, though had Pedro Delgado for company. Oh, those team Z colours. Arensman seems to hold on to time when Gall hits the harder gradient himself. Updated at 5.17pm CEST 4.56pm CEST 16:56 5 km to go: Gall has the gap down to two minutes. We await the Pogacar charge. Arensman, as the gradient rises, starts to look leggy. In the GC pack, Vaquelin looks to have cracked. Ben Healy is bouncing back, too. Updated at 5.17pm CEST 4.53pm CEST 16:53 6 km to go: Gall has a real job on his hands to close on Arensman, who has the race to himself. It's all on him though there are signs of fatigue as he reaches for a bidon. A truce called in the GC group? Perhaps. At least until the final metres and bonus seconds. Updated at 5.17pm CEST 4.51pm CEST 16:51 7 km: Felix Gall's break from the Pogacar group triggers a response. 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Let's see what Luchon Superbagneres brings. Via climbfinders: 'Luchon Superbagnères is a climb in the region French Pyrenees. It is 17.1km long and bridges 1161 vertical meters with an average gradient of 6.8%, resulting in a difficulty score of 892. The top of the ascent is located at 1795 meters above sea level' 4.20pm CEST 16:20 25km to go: The descent is rapid, the kilometres eaten up, the gaps promisingly large. It's at 20km that the climbing starts to begin before the true final haul begins. 4.15pm CEST 16:15 33km to go: Arensman, today's rocket man, has led them over the Peyresourde. In 2007, Alexander Vinokourov led over the top. Somewhere in the race caravan, he's leading Astana. His feat in 2007 was expunged for one of the odder doping sagas. The gap in 2025 is 1' 25'. Marc Soler is leading UAE's team over the top. They are two minutes behind the Martinez/Kuss group. Down to Louchon they go… Updated at 4.18pm CEST 4.07pm CEST 16:07 35km to go: Yates seems to step off as the groups join up. He's capable of being a lone wolf as he showed to such effect in that incredible Giro win. Ben O'Connor starts to lose pace, too. Back in the yellow jersey group, Nils Pollitt, having pulled the peloton along, is sat up, done for the day. But not for Le Tour. Big smile on his face as he clocks off. The gap to the very front is under three minutes. Riding for Big Sir Jim's Ineos, Thymen Arensman, has gone for it, and ends up taking 40 seconds off the rest. And climbing…what an effort. 3.50pm CEST 15:50 4okm to go: Calm before the storm, though the maillot jaune group is now back just three minutes, a totally bridgeable gap. Kuss and Simon Yates are up the field for Vingegaard, and can pace him to meet Pogacar for the final boss fight. Kuss is in the lead group, Yates the second group under 25 seconds back. A reunion surely imminent. 3.33pm CEST 15:33 50mkm to go: Behind the leaders, two groups – one is 1'50', the yellow is 3' 31', and Milan is just over 16 minutes back. The hard work starts soon, though. Into the valley the leading trio ride. Peyresourde is next, a category one climb. 3.27pm CEST 15:27 55km to go: Martinez, not so brave – or foolish - a descender – is caught by Kuss and Paret-Peintre, and a trio forms that can work together over the Peyresourde. Race radio informs the riders that this is a 'technical' descent. 3.25pm CEST 15:25 60km to go: Martinez, the lone rider, takes five points at the peak of the Aspin. To quote the sponsors, a famed hypermarché: 'He is thus the first rider to reach the 50-point mark and will receive the promised bonus to celebrate 50 years of the polka dot jersey!' Perhaps a free run on a pick n' mix, or those small bottles of beer they do. Updated at 4.46pm CEST 3.14pm CEST 15:14 65km to go: It's a 5km climb, the Aspin, and the people are out in force, and with far less mist to negotiate. Martinez is looking good on the climbs, less good on the descent. Kuss is 50 seconds back. Pogacar is looking comfortable enough as his team leads him up the climb. Updated at 3.42pm CEST 3.03pm CEST 15:03 70km to go: That Kuss group is closing on Martinez at just under 50 seconds. The Col d'Aspin beckons Martinez as he starts the second category climb and looks in good nick. He has 2,500 of climbing to complete by the end of the day. The Pogacar group, led by UAE lieutenants, is almost four minutes behind. Updated at 3.04pm CEST 2.49pm CEST 14:49 80km to go: Sepp Kuss, the American is in a pack just over a minute behind Martinez. Pogacar is four minutes behind. The weather has blown a hole in the race. They will regroup in the valley then…more climbing. 2.43pm CEST 14:43 90km to go: As the pack climbs over the summit, Julian Alaphilippe, the French veteran, grabs a cardboard sign to thrust down his jersey for warmth on the descent. A lack of L'Equipe newsprint for him to use. The digital media has many byproducts, not all of them as useful as that. There is sun at the bottom of the valley but first they must negotiate a squall of showers and some decidedly risky, skiddy ground. Michael Woods was second over the summit but nobody is pelting down the descent. It's far too dangerous. Meanwhile, the grupetto, featuring Milan, is dropping back and back. Updated at 3.14pm CEST
