Jakarta - Cristiano Ronaldo has explained his absence from the funeral of teammate diogo Jota‘s brother, André Silva, stating he wished to avoid drawing attention away from the moment of grief. André Silva died in a car accident in Spain in early July, weeks after jota and Ronaldo helped Portugal win the UEFA Nations League.
Ronaldo revealed his decision stemmed from a personal rule he adopted following the death of his own father – to refrain from attending funerals. He elaborated in an interview with Piers Morgan, explaining that his presence ofen creates a disruptive “circus” of attention. “There are two things; people frequently enough criticize me. I don’t care about that. When your conscience is good and free, you don’t need to worry about what people say,” Ronaldo said, as quoted by ESPN. ”But one thing I didn’t do? After my father died, I never went to a funeral again. When you know me and know my reputation? Everywhere I go, it’s like a circus.”
He further clarified his discomfort with the potential for sensitive moments to be exploited for interviews or football discussions. “I don’t like it when you go to sensitive moments to do interviews, to talk about it, to talk about football,” Ronaldo stated.”It shows how life is sometimes like a circus. I’m not part of that. If you want to be part of that world, go ahead, but I’ll be on the other side.”
Despite not attending the funeral, Ronaldo expressed his condolences to Jota and his family through social media and direct contact.He also honored Jota’s brother by celebrating a goal in Portugal’s 5-0 victory over Armenia in September. “People can continue to criticize. I feel my decision was right. I didn’t go out because, if I went out, attention woudl be on me. I don’t want this kind of attention,” the al Nassr forward explained.