Cristiano Ronaldo calls for lifetime bans after 'Jota' chants aimed at Ruben Neves

[p]The chants occurred on Saturday ‌during a fixture between [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/al-taawon/WjJkJilj/"]Al Taawon[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/neves-ruben/Ea90ReE4/"]‌Neves[/a]' side, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/al-hilal/hxxcePl9/"]Al Hilal[/a], in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/diogo-jota/lr5I22zF/"]Jota[/a] died on July 3rd, 2025, in ‌a car crash in Zamora, northwestern ⁠Spain, along ‌with his brother [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/silva-andre/UZRsjD5h/"]Andre Silva[/a]. A close ​friend of Jota, Neves was a pallbearer at his funeral.[/p][p]Footage filmed ​from the stands during the match and circulated on social media appeared ⁠to show ​supporters chanting 'Jota'.[/p][embed guid="474e9918-7ae6-4d14-9996-1b67eb004866" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9w7LgGSmRA" social-type="youtube" /][p]The shouts attracted the attention of Neves, who pointed to his eye and then up to the sky ‌in response.[/p][p][b]Passing through the mixed zone after the game, Neves commented, "I hope they don't go to pray afterwards."[/b][/p][p]In response to an Instagram post showing the footage, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ronaldo-cristiano/WGOY4FSt/"]Ronaldo[/a] commented from his personal account.[/p][p][b]"The league must take action and punish this kind of fan behaviour," ‌said Ronaldo.[/b][/p][p][b]"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."[/b][/p][p]The game finished 6-0 to Al Hilal, with Neves playing 75 minutes ⁠before being ⁠substituted.[/p]