There were disgraceful scenes after the funerals of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva in Gondomar, Portugal, with members of the public barred from entering the graveyard
Members of the public had to be shut out of the graveyard after on Saturday morning. The brothers were buried at a church in Gondomar, near Porto, in Portugal after their tragic deaths .
Dozens of figures from the footballing attended the emotional service at the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar catholic church. Jota's team-mates, including Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson, were in attendance, along with many Portugal internationals.
The funeral followed a on Friday, which was , and the player's family. Although hugely emotional, the funeral passed respectfully, before problems arose afterwards.
Shortly after the burial of Jota and his brother Andre ended, the graveyard was reopened up to the public. But officials closed it again soon afterwards after "disrespectful" selfie-seekers began entering and taking photos of themselves with the graves.
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Jota and his brother died after in north west Spain and caught fire in the early hours of Thursday morning. Their deaths have been followed by an outpouring of grief from the footballing world and the funeral was extremely emotional.
Jota's team-mate at and Portugal, Joao Neves, flew in from the United States, where he had been playing at the Club World Cup hours earlier, to help carry his coffin.
Police monitor the crowd close to the burial site of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre
Police monitor the crowd close to the burial site of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre
The funeral service was led by Bishop of Porto Dom Manuel Linda. In a heartfelt message to Jota's three children, who did not attend the service, the Bishop told the children he had a message for them, which included him explaining why so many people, including VIPs, had attended the one hour service.
His voice trembling with emotion, he told them he would pray "a lot" for them and told the congregation, including Jota's wife Rute: "If it is difficult to see an adult cry, it is even more difficult to see a child cry".
He added: "The ones who suffer a lot are your mother and your grandparents. Seeing the mortal remains of a child must be a greater torment, but when there are two urns there are no words."
Officials were forced to close the grave site shortly after the funeral
Officials were forced to close the grave site shortly after the funeral
midfielder Bernardo Silva attended the service and said: "I can't even imagine the pain felt by the family, by Rute, by the children, by the parents. For André and Jota. I must say a little about Jota, who was a great friend to all of us.
"His career, although not the most important, speaks for itself. He didn't train at any of the big clubs and took the most difficult paths. His passion, will and determination allowed him to succeed in life and have a brilliant career.
"More important than that, as a person... the memories that remain... Jota will always be in our hearts. He will always be present at every breakfast, lunch, dinner, national team gathering, or card game."