Liverpool star Diogo Jota, who tragically passed away with his brother in a car crash last week, was reportedly exceeding the speed limit, Spanish authorities revealed on Tuesday.
The investigation by the Spanish Civil Guard is still active, but preliminary findings suggest that Jota was driving his Lamborghini at high speed when a tire blew out, causing the vehicle to veer off course.
The investigation also led to the belief that Jota was the one driving.
There was no indication from the police as to who was driving, Jota or André Silva.
The incident occurred on a Spanish highway near Zamora in northwestern Spain, where the Lamborghini caught fire, leading to the brothers’ untimely deaths and leaving the soccer community in mourning.
Jota was 28 and Silva was 25.
Players from Liverpool, as well as Portugal’s national team, were present at the funeral for the brothers on Saturday.
Virgil Van Dijk, Liverpool’s captain, carried a red floral arrangement in the shape of a soccer shirt with Jota’s No. 20 on it with white flowers.
Andrew Robertson, another Liverpool teammate, held a similar arrangement with Silva’s No. 30, which he wore with his Portuguese club Penafiel.
Many others in the soccer world, including Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes and Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva and Rúben Dias, were at the funeral over the weekend.
“These are really, really sad days, as you can imagine,” Portugal’s national team coach Roberto Martinez said at the funeral, via FOX Sports. “But today we showed we are a large, close family. … Their spirit will be with us forever.”
The brothers were reportedly heading to board a boat from northern Spain to England, where Jota would rejoin his Liverpool squad following summer break.
“Liverpool Football Club are devastated by the tragic passing of Diogo Jota,” the team said in a statement Thursday. “Liverpool FC will be making no further comment at this time and request the privacy of Diogo and Andre’s family, friends, teammates and club staff is respected as they try to come to terms with an unimaginable loss.”
Cristiano Ronaldo, a Team Portugal legend, also reacted to the tragic news.
“Doesn’t make any sense,” he said in an Instagram post. “Just now we were together in the National Team, just now you were married. To your family, to your wife and children, I send my condolences and wish them all the strength in the world.
Jota had 47 goals over 123 appearances with Liverpool.
