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 Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva were laid to rest on Saturday morning. The brothers were buried at a church in Gondomar, near Porto, in Portugal after their tragic deaths in a car crash in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Dozens of figures from the footballing world attended the emotional service at the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar catholic church. Jota’s Liverpool team-mates, including Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson, were in attendance, along with many Portugal internationals.

The funeral followed a private wake on Friday, which was attended by Jota’s wife Rute Cardoso, who he married last month, 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.

Hundreds of football fans turned out on the streets in Gondomar to watch proceedings from near the church. The vast majority did so respectfully, but once the graveyard was opened to the public, there were issues that the police had to deal with.

Jota and his brother died after the Lamborghini they were travelling in spun off the road 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 Wolves and Portugal, Ruben 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
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

Manchester City 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, PlayStation or card game.”