Cristiano Ronaldo Calls For Lifetime Bans On Abusive Fans After Ruben Neves Taunted By Diogo Jota Chants

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. Jota was killed in a car accident in Zamora, Spain, in July last year. 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.

Neves appeared to react with sarcastic applause and a thumbs-up to the supporters before pointing to the sky and his own eye, and then in the direction from which the chanting was coming.

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."

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.

Neves and Jota shared a close relationship, featuring in Portugal's youth teams before sharing the dressing room at Wolverhampton Wanderers in England. Neves was also a pallbearer at Jota's funeral and inherited his No. 21 Portugal shirt last year.

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.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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