Cristiano Ronaldo Spotted on Luxury Yacht in Mallorca Amid Questions Over Diogo Jota Funeral Absence

Portugal and Al-Nassr striker Cristiano Ronaldo had been pictured for the first time since deciding not to attend the funeral of fellow Portuguese international Diogo Jota, who died alongside his brother Andre Silva in a tragic traffic accident in northern Spain last week.

The sudden passing of the 28-year-old Liverpool forward has left Portuguese football reeling, with team-mates and fans expressing shock and heartbreak.

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Jota and Silva were killed when their car crashed in the early hours of Thursday morning, just 11 days after Jota’s wedding to his childhood sweetheart, Rute Cardoso, the mother of his three young children.

Mourners gathered in Gondomar cemetery in Portugal on Saturday afternoon, and several of Jota’s close colleagues, including Bernardo Silva and Ruben Neves, came together to pay their respects to the player whose talent and character had made him a beloved figure.

However, the Portugal captain was notably absent. Instead of traveling to Gondomar—a municipality near Porto—Ronaldo remained on holiday aboard a yacht off the coast of Mallorca with his partner, Georgina Rodriguez.

The photographs of the couple relaxing have since sparked a debate over the reasons behind his decision to stay away from the funeral.

According to reports in Portuguese outlet Record, the 40-year-old forward’s choice was influenced by deeply personal considerations tied to the loss of his father, Jose Diniz Aveiro, who died in September 2005 when Ronaldo was just 20.

While some supporters have defended the Al-Nassr star’s right to grieve privately, others criticised what they perceived as a lack of solidarity with Jota’s bereaved family.

It is believed that he did not wish to distract from the ceremony or overshadow the mourning with his public profile.

A source close to Ronaldo suggested the striker wanted the focus to remain on honouring Jota and Andre Silva, rather than on his own presence and the inevitable media frenzy it would attract.

Ronaldo was shocked to hear of Jota’s sudden passing and was one of the first to publicly react, posting a moving tribute on Instagram:

“It doesn’t make sense. We were just together in the national team, and you had just gotten married,” he wrote.

“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. Rest in peace, Diogo and Andre. We will all miss you.”

His sister Katia Aveiro also stepped in to defend her brother, condemning the criticism as an example of a “sick society.”

She recalled the traumatic funeral of their father, describing how the family struggled with the media attention.

“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,” Katia shared on Instagram.

“It is absurdly shameful to watch TV channels/commentators/social networks emphasising an absence (wise) rather than respectfully honouring the pain of a mutilated family destroyed by the loss of two brothers.”

The Mallorca holiday, which had been planned weeks in advance, has nonetheless created a backlash among some football fans and pundits who believe that Portugal’s captain should have been present.

However, others see Ronaldo’s absence as a deeply personal choice deserving understanding, especially given his own history of loss.