Liverpool striker Diogo Jota has died in a car crash in Spain.
According to reports in the country, he was in a Lamborghini with his brother Andre Silva, also a professional footballer, when it veered off the road near the town of Zamora, north-western Spain, and burst into flames.
A statement by the Spanish Guardia Civil confirmed the deaths.
"The information we have so far is that the car, which was a Lamborghini, was in a road traffic accident and left the road due to a tyre blowout while overtaking.
"It was in the early hours, 00:30 BST, in the municipality of Cernadilla in the province of Zamora.
"The car caught on fire and the two occupants were killed."
When asked to confirm the identities of those involved in the accident, the Guardia Civil said: "The player and his brother, Andre Silva."
Liverpool posted a message on their social media channels saying the club was "devastated" by the news of Jota's death.
A statement on the club's website added: "Liverpool FC will be making no further comment at this time and request the privacy of Diogo and Andre’s family, friends, teammates and club staff is respected as they try to come to terms with an unimaginable loss.
"We will continue to provide them with our full support."
The tragic news comes just two weeks after Jota married his long-term girlfriend Rute Cardoso in Porto. The couple had three children.
Silva played with Portuguese club Penafiel in Portugal's lower divisions.
Jota, 28, joined Liverpool in 2020 from Premier League rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers for €44.7 million.
He made 182 appearances, scoring 65 goals and providing 26 assists.
Jota was a key part of the Liverpool squad that secured a record-equalling 20th English title last season under Arne Slot. He was also part of the club's 2022 FA Cup and League Cup-winning sides under previous head coach Jurgen Klopp.
Tributes pour in
Jota began his career at Pacos de Ferreira in 2014, scoring 14 goals in two seasons at the Portuguese club.
A move to Atletico Madrid in 2016 did not work out, with the player loaned first to Porto and then Wolves where Jota established himself as a central figure in the club's promotion back to the Premier League under Portuguese coach Nuno Espirito Santo.
In all, he scored 44 goals for the Midlands side before earning a move to Liverpool in September 2020.
Jota made his international debut for Portugal in 2019, helping them win the Uefa Nations League, a feat he repeated recently when Portugal beat Spain in last month's final. He scored 14 goals in 49 international appearances.
"The Portuguese Football Federation and all of Portuguese football are completely devastated by the deaths of Diogo Jota and Andre Silva, this morning, in Spain," Pedro Proenca, head of the Portuguese federation, said in a statement.
"Diogo Jota was an extraordinary person, respected by all teammates and opponents, someone with an infectious joy and a reference in the community itself," the statement added.
Proenca said the PFF had already asked Uefa, European football's governing body, for a minute's silence to be observed before the national team's match against Spain at the 2025 Women's European Championship on Thursday.
"The loss of Diogo and Andre represents irreplaceable losses for Portuguese football and we will do everything, daily, to honour their legacy."
Portuguese club Porto, where Jota spent a year on loan in 2016 and where Andre Silva was on the books as a youth player, posted an image of the brothers in their Porto kit on social media.
"It is with shock and deep sorrow that we extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva, who was also our athlete in the youth ranks," the club said in a message.
"Rest in peace."
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
Price, base / as tested Dh1,100,000 (est)
Engine 5.2-litre V10
Gearbox seven-speed dual clutch
Power 630bhp @ 8,000rpm
Torque 600Nm @ 6,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined 15.7L / 100km (est)
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
Company%20profile
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If you go
The flights
Emirates (www.emirates.com) and Etihad (www.etihad.com) both fly direct to Bengaluru, with return fares from Dh 1240. From Bengaluru airport, Coorg is a five-hour drive by car.
The hotels
The Tamara (www.thetamara.com) is located inside a working coffee plantation and offers individual villas with sprawling views of the hills (tariff from Dh1,300, including taxes and breakfast).
When to go
Coorg is an all-year destination, with the peak season for travel extending from the cooler months between October and March.
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
In numbers
Number of Chinese tourists coming to UAE in 2017 was... 1.3m
Alibaba’s new ‘Tech Town’ in Dubai is worth... $600m
China’s investment in the MIddle East in 2016 was... $29.5bn
The world’s most valuable start-up in 2018, TikTok, is valued at... $75bn
Boost to the UAE economy of 5G connectivity will be... $269bn
