Cristiano Ronaldo has called for lifetime stadium bans for supporters who taunted Portugal midfielder Ruben Neves with chants about the late Diogo Jota.
Fans appeared to target Neves during Al-Hilal’s 6-0 victory over Al-Taawoun in the Saudi Pro League on Saturday, repeatedly chanting Jota’s name at the midfielder.
Ronaldo, who plays for Saudi rivals Al-Nassr, condemned the behaviour and urged the league to take firm action against those involved.
Ronaldo calls for punishment
“The league must take action and punish this kind of fan behaviour,” Ronaldo wrote on social media.
“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.”
Neves appeared to respond to the chants by sarcastically applauding a section of supporters before pointing towards the sky.
The midfielder later made clear how deeply the incident had affected him, telling reporters: “I just hope they don’t go to pray later after what they did.”
Neves was a close friend and former team-mate of Jota, with the pair having played together at Wolverhampton Wanderers and for Portugal.
Neves continues to honour Jota
Jota died alongside his brother Andre Silva in a car crash in the Spanish province of Zamora at the age of 28.
Since his death, Neves has continued to honour his former team-mate. He wears the number 21 shirt for Portugal in Jota’s memory and has a tattoo on his calf showing the two players embracing.
Ronaldo also shared the Portugal dressing room with both Jota and Neves during his international career.
Jota joined Liverpool from Wolves in 2020 and scored 65 goals in 182 appearances for the club. He made his Portugal debut in 2019, going on to score 14 goals in 49 international appearances.
