Cristiano Ronaldo Opens Up on Why He Didn't Attend Diogo Jota's Funeral

Cristiano Ronaldo has explained why he didn't attend the funeral of former Portugal teammate Diogo Jota.

Jota and his younger brother Andre Silva, who played for Portuguese second-tier side Penafiel, were involved in a fatal car crash that occurred in the early hours of July 3 near Zamora, in northwestern Spain.

It was confirmed by the Spanish Guardia Civil that their car, a green Lamborghini, left the road due to a tyre blowout while overtaking another vehicle.

Jota and Silva were driving to Santander to catch a ferry back to England ahead of the start of Liverpool's pre-season training.

Family, friends and teammates gathered to pay their respects to Jota and Silva, whose funerals were held in the town of Gondomar on July 5. Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, decided against attending.

Speaking in an interview with Piers Morgan, Ronaldo has now defended his decision to miss the funeral of his former Portugal teammate.

Asked where he was when he heard the news that Jota had passed away, Ronaldo said: "I was with Gio alone in our period of rest. I was there in the gym in the morning with Gio. I didn’t believe it when they sent me messages. I cried a lot. Gio can confirm that."

"It was a very, very difficult moment for the country, for families, for friends, for teammates," added Ronaldo. "A disaster. Very, very, very sad news."

Piers Morgan then brought up his decision not to attend the funeral.

"You didn’t attend his funeral, and your sister responded to people who were raising questions by saying on social media that you just didn’t want to turn the whole thing into an unnecessary circus with too much attention on you," said Morgan. "Is that really what you were thinking?"

Ronaldo responded: "Two things. People criticise me a lot. As I say, I don’t care about that because when you feel your conscience is good, free, you don’t have to be worried about what people say.

"One of the things I don’t do is, after my father died, I’ve never been in a cemetery again.

"Second, as you say and you mentioned, you know me and you know my reputation. Wherever I go, it’s a circus. I don’t go because if I go, the attention goes from me and I don’t want this kind of attention.

"I saw — and I’m not criticising, I just say that I didn’t like it — when you go in a sensitive moment to do interviews, to speak about him, to speak about football. Come on guys, what is this? This show, our circus, is life sometimes.

"I’m not part of that. If you want to be part of this world, good luck; I’m going to be on the other side."

He concluded: “People can continue to criticise me. I felt good with my decision. I don't need to be in the first line for people to see me. I'm thinking about his family, I don't need to be in the cameras for the people to see what I do."

At the time, Ronaldo's sister, Katia Aveiro, addressed the criticism with an emotional message on social media.

“When our father passed away, we couldn’t even leave the chapel because of the cameras and onlookers," she wrote on Instagram. "I can’t imagine what it would be like now with Cristiano’s level of attention."

She added: “It’s shameful that people focus more on an absence than on the real pain of a family torn apart by loss.”

Speaking in the interview with Morgan, Ronaldo described Jota as a "very good guy". He added: "I really liked to meet (with) him, to share with him some great moments. It was sad. I had the opportunity to speak with their family and to give support."