Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence from the joint funeral of Liverpool star Diogo Jota and his footballer brother Andre Silva was causing shockwaves in their homeland on Saturday.
Portugal’s most capped player and team captain was expected to fly to Gondomar near Porto to pay his last respects alongside Jota’s club and country team-mates at a wake on Friday and the funeral mass this morning.
But the 40-year-old dad-of-three was a no-show at both – with a leading Majorcan newspaper saying he was holidaying on the island and had been spotted in two upmarket destinations on board his £5.5million 88-feet long Azimut Grande yacht, which boasts five luxury cabins and six bathrooms.
Liverpool team-mates, Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva and Manchester United full back Diogo Dalot, both Portuguese national team players, were among the footballers who packed into the church on Saturday morning – the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar.
Portugal internationals Joao Cancelo and Ruben Neves, seen in tears on Friday night before their Club World Cup clash in Orlando, also made it to the church on time along with Portugal manager Roberto Martinez who has been in the States as a member of the FIFA Club World Cup Technical Study Group.
Portuguese journalist Antonio Ribeiro Cristovao said shortly before the mass began: ‘He is the captain of the Portugal squad. Many expected he would attend.
‘Diogo Jota was part of the team. Maybe there are some reasons we don’t know.
‘If he doesn’t attend, he has to explain the reason. He has that responsibility. He is the captain.’
Sports journalist and commentator Luis Cristovao called his absence ‘inexplicable’ as the funeral mass got underway without Ronaldo, saying: ‘Being inexplicable, any justification will fall short of the shortcoming he committed with his absence.’
And TV sports commentator Pedro Fatela, added of the Al-Nassr striker’s no-show: ‘This absence will be much discussed. There must be justifications in the coming days.
‘We will know why Cristiano wasn’t able to travel to Gondomar to be present in this moment, but he is the captain.
‘All of us were expecting, as all coaches and players were there, to have the captain side by side with his teammates.’
A football fan commenting on Ronaldo’s no-show on X said: ‘For Cristiano Ronaldo not to interrupt his holidays to appear at the funeral is something inadmissible as a friend and as Portugal’s captain. It was the least he should have done.’
Referencing Ronaldo’s emotional Instagram post after he learned about Diogo and brother Andre Silva’s car crash deaths on the A-52 highway near Zamora close to Spain’s north-west border with Portugal in the early hours of Thursday morning, he added: ‘It’s not just messages on social media that count, it’s not just money that counts.’
Another Portuguese X user called Flavia, hinting Ronaldo must have decided he didn’t want to be the focus of fans and well-wishers and detract from the funeral by attending, said: ‘People are already criticising Cristiano Ronaldo for not showing up at the wake and funeral.
‘Folks, I don’t know if you realise what Cristiano Ronaldo means to Gondomar.
‘I understand it would be good for our captain to attend the funeral but we can’t forget who Ronaldo is.
‘I understand why he doesn’t show up.’
A follower responding to her message agreed saying: ‘The problem is a lot of people have no respect and would have gone to have a chance of seeing Ronaldo and not for Diogo.’
Local reports Ronaldo had been spotted on his luxury yacht in Majorca first emerged yesterday evening on the eve of the funerals.
He posted an emotional tribute to the Liverpool winger and his footballer brother Andre Silva when he learned they had died in the early hours of Thursday after crashing in a 200mph £180,000 Lamborghini Huracan following a suspected tyre blowout.
The siblings were on their way to the Spanish port city of Santander so Diogo, who had been advised against air travel following lung surgery, could take a ferry to the UK and head on to Liverpool.
Reporting former Manchester United frontman Ronaldo had been spotted relaxing in the Balearic Islands, respected Majorcan newspaper Ultima Hora said late on Friday: ‘Cristiano Ronaldo has chosen Majorca again as a destination to enjoy his summer vacation.’
It went on to report the Portuguese star had been seen in the upmarket resort of Illetes on Majorca’s south-west coastline and the port of Andratx on board his £5.5m yacht.
And it added: ‘Although on this occasion he hasn’t been seen outside of his yacht, it’s normal for the footballer to take advantage of his stay on the island to train, go to high-class restaurants and enjoy family life.’
Ronaldo last holidayed in Majorca with his family three years ago.
An employee of the footballer’s, thought to have been one of his bodyguards, was injured during the break when the sports car he was driving came off the road and smashed into a stone wall protecting a house near Ronaldo’s holiday home.
The Bugatti he crashed was one of two cars the former Manchester United frontman had ferried over to the Spanish island for his sunshine break.
Ronaldo was reportedly in another vehicle in a small convoy with his loved ones when his employee came off the road after they left their rented family home for a day out.
He was said at the time to have ordered other staff to remain at the scene while they continued their journey.
The badly-damaged Bugatti was later driven away on a tow-truck under a blue tarpaulin.
The owner of the Majorcan house hit by Cristiano Ronaldo’s sports car subsequently said he had pledged to pay for the damage.
The unnamed homeowner revealed he was promised compensation after turning up at his rented mansion to try to speak to him.
In his Instagram tribute to newly-married Diogo and his brother Ronaldo said: ‘Doesn’t make any sense. Just now we were together in the national team, just now you were married.
‘To your family, to your wife and children, I send my condolences and wish them all the strength in the world. I know you will always be with them. R.I.P. Diogo and Andre We will all miss you.’
Diogo Jota’s long-time agent Jorge Mendes attended yesterday’s wake after travelling to Spain to spend time with the footballer’s heartbroken loved ones including his widow Rute Cardoso, mum to their three children, while they tried to repatriate his body.
Ronaldo has not explained his absence yet on his social media.
