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."
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
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.
So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
