ไทย
English
中國人
Following Cristiano Ronaldo's demand for lifetime bans against Al Taawoun supporters who were caught on camera chanting the name of the deceased Diogo Jota in an attempt to taunt Al Hilal midfielder Rúben Neves, the Saudi Pro League has handed down a different set of sanctions.
Rather than targeting individuals, all Al Taawoun supporters have been barred from the club's next two home matches, and the club itself has been fined 100,000 riyals ($26,660). The ruling determined that the incident constituted a violation of article 51.2 of the SAFF Disciplinary Code.
"Any team where several individuals threaten or harass match officials or other persons during a match has committed an offense," was the charge leveled against Al Taawoun. With the minimum penalty set at $3,000, the SAFF disciplinary and ethics committee clearly regarded this as a grave offense, multiplying that baseline figure by eight.
"The fans of Al Taawoun chanted phrases and slogans that violated the provisions of the disciplinary and ethics regulations, and the committee decided to increase the penalty," read an official statement from the Saudi Football Federation.
Loss of Jota Still As Raw As Ever
More than a year has passed since the football world was plunged into grief by the devastating news that Jota and his brother André Silva had lost their lives in a road accident in Spain, yet the pain remains just as acute as it was on that tragic day in July 2025. Jota, who was 28 at the time, had been driving to board a ferry back to England after Liverpool's medical staff advised him against flying following a minor surgical procedure.
The brothers were midway through their journey when a tyre blowout occurred as Jota was overtaking another car. Just five days prior, Jota had shared on social media that he had wed his long-time partner and the mother of his three children, Rute Cardoso.
Neves delivered one of the most deeply moving tributes as he struggled to come to terms with the loss of his fellow Portuguese national, teammate, and close friend. "I'm going to make sure you're always present and I'll make sure that your loved ones never lack anything while you're there, far away but thinking of us, waiting for us," the former Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder wrote at the time.
"Life has brought us together and now it can't tear us apart."
Given this context, Neves was an especially cruel target for the kind of tragedy chanting that has long tainted the sport.
Jota's former club Liverpool have endured more than one tragedy that rival supporters have exploited over the years. In 2023, a fan received a four-year stadium ban after appearing in a Manchester United shirt bearing an offensive reference to the 97 Liverpool supporters who died in the Hillsborough Stadium disaster of 1989.
No club is blameless when it comes to this reprehensible behavior which, as Neves painfully discovered, remains as widespread as ever.