The president of the Portuguese FA, Pedro Proenca, has broken his silence after national team captain and superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was notably absent at the funeral of teammate Diogo Jota.
Jota, 28, along with his brother, André Silva, tragically lost their lives in a devastating car crash last month.
The news shocked the footballing world, with the tragedy marked even more devastating as the Portuguese star had married his childhood sweetheart Rute Cardoso just 11 days prior, leaving behind three children.
The funeral for the brothers took place just days after the tragic events, and saw many of the Liverpool forward’s former teammates such as Bruno Fernandes, Virgil van Dijk and Ruben Neves, who carried the coffin of his best friend.
Diogo Jota's team-mates attended the funeral of the Liverpool star on Saturday | GETTYA notable absence from the event was Ronaldo, despite his position as Portugal's captain and having made over 40 international appearances together.
The 40-year-old superstar faced significant online backlash for failing to attend, instead being spotted on his yacht off the coast of Mallorca at the time of the funeral.
It is said that Portugal’s record goalscorer did not attend the event to prevent distracting from the importance and bringing unwanted attention to those who were there to pay their respects.
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Cristiano Ronaldo was absent from teammate Diogo Jota's funeral earlier this month
|PA
At the time of the funeral, Ronaldo’s sister defended his decision not to attend the funeral, explaining: “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.”
The Portuguese FA president Proenca has also backed Ronaldo’s stance and blasted any criticism of the star, saying: “It's incredibly unfair to say that Cristiano, in some way, played a more detached role in this.
“From the very beginning, the captain was with us and was one of the people who most closely connected with the national team family, with Jota's own blood family.
“And I say it again: what they said about our captain is unfair. Cristiano Ronaldo, he was one of the people who felt it the most, especially because he was a true teammate of Jota.
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“His physical absence means nothing more than that, because he never abandoned this family.”
In his absence from the funeral, Ronaldo took to social media to pay his respects to his former teammate, writing: “It doesn't make sense. Just now we were together in the national team, just now you had 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.
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“Rest in Peace, Diogo and André. We will all miss you.”
Jota’s untimely death sent shockwaves throughout the footballing community and many of whom were seen at the star’s funeral.
One of which is international teammate and Manchester United full-back Diogo Dalot, who recently spoke on the tragedy and described the late striker as a "role model".
"I don't think there are any words to describe it when such a tragedy happens like that. It hits you,” he said.
"I felt the whole world felt it, even if they didn't know him personally.
"He was someone who was a role model for me.”