The president of the Portuguese FA has come to the defence of Cristiano Ronaldo after the national team captain received backlash for not attending Diogo Jota's funeral.
The footballing world was left a month ago when news broke that Jota and his brother Andre Silva had been killed in a car crash in northern Spain.
The tragic 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.
Ronaldo was Jota's Portugal national team captain and many were surprised that he was not present at the funeral which took place just days later in Gondomar.
Some were more than surprised, with Ronaldo facing criticism online for his absence after Portugal stars such as Bruno Fernandes, Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva made appearances.
The Al-Nassr star 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.
And Pedro Proenca, president of the Portuguese Football Federation, has hit back at the criticism.
'It's incredibly unfair to say that Cristiano, in some way, played a more detached role in this,' he said.
'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 team-mate of Jota .
His physical absence means nothing more than that, because he never abandoned this family.'
Donjefz
192
The aim of the gathering is to pay "Last Respect" But y'all forget that there are different ways of showing respect. Imagine Ronaldo showed up and all the media present in the funeral, turned on him, that would be so disrespectful to Jota, and y'all again will criticize Ronaldo heavily for it...If he responds to the media seeking his attention, y'all would say "he is so selfish, all he thinks about is himself" if refused to speak to any of the media, y'all would still say "he is so rude". Wether y'all likes it or not, Ronaldo took the right decision, letting Jota's family get all the attention was so thoughtful and a display of respect for the deceased.
lahanlyon2000
87
if you understand you understand , if you dont understand you dont understand. people will have their interpretation of his absence. it doesn't matter. rip jota, end of story.
Lusbklostu
47
Defending rubbish, No excuse
Buadipst
38
Let’s be real, there were many footballers there who are seen as stars. If CR7 really didn’t go because of the media, he may have thought too highly of himself in that moment. If you don’t show up to a teammate’s funeral for media, the same media you live with, sit with, and want to be known by, something is wrong. And if he gave real thought, not showing up would more have him more in the media, than being there.
vowkmprst
33
so what being a captain he was the key to be present in behalf of the country n family
Kayode1999
9
Defending rubbish, No excuse
Now look how you have shifted the attention from Jota to Ronaldo. You see, he was right