Legendary Portugal and Al Nassr striker Cristiano Ronaldo has called for lifetime bans for abusive supporters from entering stadiums after Al-Hilal star Ruben Neves was taunted with chants about late Portuguese star Diogo Jota during a Saudi Pro League (SPL) match on Saturday. Both Neves and Cristiano shared the dressing room with the late Liverpool star while playing for Portugal.
Footage circulated on social media on Saturday showing Neves standing next to his teammate Crysencio Summerville, ready to take a free-kick, while chants of “Jota, Jota, Jota” could be heard at Al Taawoun’s home arena.
Jota was killed in a car accident in Zamora, Spain, in July last year.
Cristiano, who plays for Al Nassr and spent plenty of time alongside Neves and Jota, called on the league to ban the supporters involved in the chants about Jota. “The league must take action and punish this kind of fan behaviour. 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 in a comment on an Instagram post that showed footage of the incident.
Al Hilal retained their top spot in the SPL with a 6-0 win over Al Taawoun, with Gabriel Martinelli scoring a hat-trick and England’s Ollie Watkins netting a brace.
After the match, Neves said to reporters, as quoted by ESPN, “I just hope they don’t go to pray later after what they did.
