“This isn’t football anymore” – Cristiano Ronaldo calls for lifetime bans after fans make cruel jokes about Diogo Jota
Cristiano Ronaldo has called on the Saudi Pro League to give lifetime bans to fans who mocked Ruben Neves by chanting the name of his late friend, Diogo Jota.
Jota and his brother, André Silva, sadly passed away in July 2025 in a car crash in Spain. Over the weekend, a terrible video showed fans inside Al Taawoun Club Stadium taunting Al Hilal midfielder Neves by shouting “Jota, Jota, Jota” while he was about to take a free-kick.
Neves was clearly upset and responded by pointing to his eyes, signaling to the fans. Ronaldo, his teammate from Portugal, was quick to condemn the behavior and called on the league to punish any fan involved in such cruel actions.
Ronaldo, who plays for Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League and has played alongside both Neves and Jota for Portugal, shared his thoughts on social media after the video went viral. He said, “The league must take action and punish this kind of fan behavior. This is not what football is about, and there have to be limits. People who act like this should be banned from stadiums forever.”
After hearing the chants, Neves sarcastically clapped the fans, pointed to the sky, and made a gesture toward his eyes. Later, when speaking to reporters, Neves said, “I just hope they don’t go to pray later after what they did.”
Neves and Jota were very close friends since they were young, playing youth football together at Porto and for Portugal. They were born just four months apart and both joined Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2017 when they were 20.
They lived near each other in Wolverhampton’s Compton area and spent a lot of time together. Both played important roles in Wolves’ rise to the Premier League and became regular players for Portugal alongside their hero, Ronaldo.
After Jota’s tragic death, Neves got a tattoo of the two of them hugging as a lasting tribute. He was also a pallbearer at Jota’s funeral and now wears Jota’s old number 21 shirt for Portugal.