5/7/2025–|Last update: 18:18 (Mecca time)
Portuguese captain Cristiano Ronaldo did not attend the funeral of Dugo Gota and his brother André Silva in Gondumar near Porto this morning after the tragic car accident in Spain.
Ronaldo was expected to go the most participating player with the Portuguese national team (221 games) and the captain of the team to Gondumar to attend the memorial ceremony and offer the recent condolences to the family of his teammate Gota.
Gotta’s teammates in Liverpool and the current and former Portuguese national team players, as well as his former teammate Wolverhampton to bid farewell to the 28 -year -old.
Virgil Van Dick and Andy Robertson were seen carrying red flowers, while Portugal stars Bruno Fernandez, Bernardo Silva and Robin Neves were also present inside the church.
The reason for Ronaldo’s absence from the funeral
As for Ronaldo, the leader of Portugal, he was not among the mourners who attended the funeral, and the British newspaper Mirror learned that the Portuguese star preferred to refrain from traveling for fear that his presence would disrupt the funeral, and that all attention will be directed to him instead of focusing on what is more important.
According to the newspaper, the absence of the “Don” was very noticeable, and he had wide comments and sparked widespread discontent in Portugal, and one of the football fans said, commenting that Cristiano did not appear on the X platform “that Cristiano Ronaldo did not cut his vacation in order to appear in the funeral is unacceptable as a friend and captain of Portugal.”
“He is the leader, and many expected him, Dugo Gota was part of the team, and there may be reasons that we do not know, if he did not attend, he would have to justify his” unjustified absence, “said journalist Antonio Ribeiro Cristovo – quoting the Daily Mail.
Although the Saudi Al -Nasr striker did not attend the funeral, he interacted with the tragic death of Jota and his brother through a message published on social media.
40 -year -old Ronaldo published a touching greeting to Jota on social media after the tragic news spread Thursday, and wrote, “This is illogical, we were together in the national team, and you just married.”
He added, “To your family, wife, and children, I extend my deepest condolences and wish them all the power … I know that you will always be with them, may God have mercy on you, Digo and Andre, we will miss you all.”
Jota and his brother died after the Lamborghini car, they were traveling in the road in northwestern Spain, and caught fire in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The funeral was attended by Gota’s wife, Rot Kardoso – who married her last month – and the player’s family.