Featured Image Credit: Getty Images
Topics: Diogo Jota, Liverpool, Premier League
Jack Kenmare
A website for a foundation claiming to have been created in memory of Diogo Jota has disappeared after it was alleged that it had no connection to his family or Liverpool.
The Diogo Jota Foundation, which was set up three days after the striker's death on July 3, claimed to have raised $64,250 (£47,715) through donations to its website, diogojotafoundation.org.
The website’s homepage described the foundation’s mission as: “Honoring the Legacy of Diogo Jota," adding: “Through football, education, and hope, we carry forward the light he left behind – creating opportunity, joy, and lasting impact for the youth of Gondomar and beyond."
They claimed The Diogo Jota Foundation was established in 2025 to "celebrate Diogo’s incredible journey from a small youth academy in Gondomar to one of Europe’s most respected footballers."
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It also said they had distributed 25,000 meals, sponsored 300 children in schools and built 50 local partnerships.
Now, an investigation by The Telegraph has revealed that the foundation set up in memory of Jota is facing questions.
It comes after Liverpool informed the publication that they, and Jota's family, know nothing about the foundation or website, while the Charity Commission confirmed they never applied to register with them.
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In addition, the website features logos for Liverpool FC, Allianz, Unicef and the Portuguese Platform of Development NGOs, and three have since denied working with the foundation.
An Allianz UK statement read: "We can confirm that we do not have a partnership, and our logo should not have been used on this website. We monitor illegal use of our brand and we are taking steps to get the website shut down by the suitable authorities."
It added: "Misuse of branding is an ongoing issue in the digital world, and fraudsters will often try to add recognised brands to their fake websites to try and deceive the public."
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The foundation only accepted payments in the form of cryptocurrency, directing users off-site to a platform where they could pay with 'USDT, ETH and other crypto through NOWPayments securely'.
NOWPayments CEO Kate Lifshits confirmed that they have not processed any payments to the foundation.
"We are aware that the NOWPayments payment system may have been used for fraudulent fundraising activities on behalf of a foundation that is not affiliated with the Diogo Jota family," Lifshits said.
"I can confirm that no payments for this foundation have been processed through NOWPayments. As soon as we became aware of the alleged fraud, we stopped providing our services to the project immediately.
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"Our widget is not active on the foundation's website. We often encounter such practices and respond immediately, regardless of whether they involve public figures."
At the time of writing, the website appears to be no longer active, with users instead being redirected to a domain hosting site.