They want him out of Liverpool: Luis Díaz criticized for not attending Diogo Jota's funeral

Colombian footballer Luis Díaz, a Liverpool winger, is facing a wave of criticism from his club's fans and international football supporters, who are criticizing his absence from the funeral of his teammate Diogo Jota, who died four days ago in a traffic accident in Spain.

'Lucho' Díaz, 28, is in Colombia on vacation before returning to the English club's preseason training camp.

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On Friday, July 4, the player participated in a sporting event with content creators in Barranquilla. He was accompanying his brother Roger Díaz, who was competing in the Content Creators Cup, a friendly soccer tournament that brings together digital influencers from various countries.

On Saturday, July 5, the funeral of Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva took place in Gondomar, Portugal, a ceremony attended by a large part of the Liverpool squad and numerous Portuguese football figures.

Among those absent were Mohamed Salah, Alisson Becker, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Díaz, although in the case of the Colombian and the Brazilian goalkeeper, the distance from South America complicated their presence.

Criticism intensified after images of Díaz smiling and posing with influencers circulated on social media, which some followers called " disrespectful ."

" He disrespected his teammates, the club and especially Diogo ," reads one of the most shared messages on X.

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Other messages claimed that Díaz should have attended the funeral because of the bond the two shared, recalling Diogo Jota's gesture in 2023 when he lifted the Colombian player's jersey during a match in solidarity with him while his father was being held hostage by the guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN).

" I was convinced I would see 'Lucho' at the funeral, that he would travel. What happened to Luis Díaz is lamentable. Diogo Jota entered the hearts of Colombians the day he showed Lucho's shirt at Anfield. Today, sadly, Luis Díaz left the hearts of the Reds and he will pay for that ," said a fan of the footballer on X.

Other fans even suggested the Colombian's departure from the 'red' team for " not being in line with the club's values ."

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Díaz himself had expressed his grief in a message posted on Instagram on Thursday: " It hurts my soul. Not only for what he was on the field, but for the person he was off it. There are gestures that one never forgets ."

Jota, 28, and his brother died in the early hours of Wednesday, July 2, when the Lamborghini they were traveling in went off the A-52 highway in Zamora, Spain.

After the autopsy, their bodies were transferred to Portugal, where the funeral that mobilized European football was held.

EFE