This morning we heard the tragic news of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre passing away in a car accident a few weeks after he got married. While his loved ones are in my thoughts. I wanted to talk to you about his legacy in women's football.
My friend who is a Liverpool stupport today made me aware of the amazing work he has done to champion women's football so I wanted to bring this to the attention of the rest of the football world whether you support only the mens and womens side.
In 2023 Jota invited Portugal women’s national team to join him at his esports headquarters in Lisbon after they qualified for their first ever Women's World Cup.
He called their achieved as ‘historic’ he publicly praises their resilience and donated part of his esports earning to help fund grassroots girls’ football projects in Portugal.
He has also been spotted with his son proudly wearing his LFCW gear while attending the Liverpool womens matches when he can.
He also used his social media platform to celebrate milestones for female playings, including Women’s Champions League goals, Portugal’s Euros qualification and club achievement.
Once a young fan asked Jota about his role model, regularly the likes of Alexia Putellas and Katie Stengal.
In a 2024 interview with A Bola, Jota said:
“Football is football—whether it's men’s or women’s. If you love the game, you respect it in all its forms. I want my children to grow up seeing the sport without those limits.”
Hersport.ie posted on their instagram about how Diogo Jota showed up for womens football.
They went on to say that last he sat beside Leanne Kieran on International Women's Day and lent his voice to a message bigger than football.
He spoke about the women who raised him and his partner and the support she gives him.
They continued to speak about him, glowly mentioning Marta and Serena Williams as role models; he was his two-year-old daughter and his sons to grow up admiring.
With this in mind UEFA have granted the Portuguese FA request to have a minute silence in remembrance of the father, husband and son that passed away in today's matches of Belgium v Italy and Germany v Poland. Also tomorrow's matches as well one of which is portugal v Spain.
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