Cristiano Ronaldo has called on the Saudi Pro League to hand lifetime stadium bans to any supporter found chanting the name of the late Diogo Jota at Rúben Neves during Saturday’s match in Buraidah.
Jota was killed alongside his brother André Silva when their car crashed in Zamora, Spain, in July 2025. Both Neves and Ronaldo were his international teammates with Portugal.
Footage circulating on social media on Saturday showed Neves standing next to his Al Hilal teammate Crysencio Summerville, preparing to take a free kick, while a section of the home crowd repeatedly chanted “Jota, Jota, Jota” at the Al Taawoun stadium.
Neves reacted by sarcastically applauding and giving a thumbs up to the supporters before pointing to the sky and to his own eye, then pointing toward where the chants were coming from.
After the match, the midfielder walked through the mixed zone and addressed the incident directly. “I just hope they don’t go to pray later after what they did,” he told reporters.
Ronaldo, who plays for Al Nassr and represented Portugal alongside both Neves and Jota, responded on Instagram, commenting on a post showing footage of the incident. “The league must take action and punish this kind of fan behavior. This is no longer football, and there have to be limits. People who behave like this should never be allowed to enter a stadium again,” he wrote.
Neves and Jota’s friendship went back to their days together in Portugal’s youth teams and at Porto, before the pair became teammates at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Neves served as a pallbearer at Jota’s funeral and took over Jota’s Portugal No. 21 shirt last year as a tribute.
Al Taawoun distanced itself from the chanting, calling it unacceptable and not reflective of the club or its supporters. Al Hilal has lodged a formal complaint with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, though as of Monday no disciplinary action or individual bans had been announced by the league or local authorities.
On the pitch, Al Hilal retained top spot in the Saudi Pro League with a 6-0 win over Al Taawoun. Gabriel Martinelli scored a hat trick, while England’s Ollie Watkins added a brace. Neves played 75 minutes before being substituted.
