After Diogo Jota’s death, UEFA was called to postpone tonight’s Women’s Euro 2025 fixture between Spain and Portugal.
Liverpool, 28, died in shocking circumstances along with his brother Andre, spurring widespread sadness throughout football.
Chris Pajak, a prominent voice on Merseyside via the Redmen TV Platform, was invited to Sky News to discuss the potential emotional sacrifices of players to represent their country a few hours after the tragedy.
“I’m sure it’s going to happen (it takes an emotional blow to the player), yeah.” Pajak said when asked about the impact the news had on his team.
“I hope that UEFA will do the right thing and that many people on the part of Portugal’s citizens will not follow that today, so I hope that in some way they will postpone the game.”
Broadcasters encourage UEFA to consider the player’s emotional state
The broadcaster emphasized how serious the situation in Jota’s hometown is, saying: “You can see how big the Portuguese news is.”
He continued: “This morning I watched Sky News myself and I can see all the words people have said about Diogo.
“I don’t want them to be placed in play for every day of today.”
Portuguese national teams (both male and female) have long considered Jota to be an important part of modern football identity.
His importance to his country is featured on social media by a compliment shared by Cristiano Ronaldo.
UEFA faces difficult decisions after catastrophic Jota loss
Whether the equipment will move forward as it currently rests on UEFA has not yet issued an official comment on the postponement, but it still falls on UEFA.
Jota’s Liverpool teammate Darwin Nunes has already shared an emotional homage to the previous wolves and portoforward, but club icons Jamie Carrager and Stephen Gerrard also spoke publicly.
Arne Slot was hoping to work with Jota in the preseason. The 46-year-old saw the Portuguese attacker as an important part of his plan.
Jota’s tragic passing football sacrifice can be addressed at a later date and later. For now, it’s about trying to handle the horrifying news that broke many people’s hearts on Thursday morning.