Virgil Van Dijk Reacts After Crystal Palace Fans Ruined Diogo Jota Tribute at Wembley
- Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has reacted after Crystal Palace jeered Diogo Jota's tribute at Wembley
- The Portuguese footballer and his brother, André Silva, sadly passed away in a car accident on July 3, 2025
- Crystal Palace defeated the Premier League champions 3-2 on penalties to win the Community Shield
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has expressed his disappointment after some Crystal Palace fans jeered Diogo Jota's tribute at Wembley.
Liverpool attacker Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva sadly passed away in a car accident in the Zamora region of Spain on Thursday, July 3, 2025.
Source: Getty Images
The Reds have paid tribute to their former player and his brother in all their matches during their pre-season, including during the Community Shield.
However, today was different as some Crystal Palace fans made loud jeers during the one-minute silence observed for the brothers before the match at Wembley.
Van Dijk slams Crystal Palace fans
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has hit out at the Crystal Palace fans who spoiled the moment of silence in honour of Diogo Jota and his brother.
A section of the fans tried to shush the jeering side, but they were outnumbered, and this unpleasant situation annoyed the Dutch defender.
“Yeah, I’m disappointed - that’s everything I’d say. There was plenty trying to shush it down, but that didn’t help - it is what it is. There were how many fans? 80,000 people,” he said as quoted by Sport Bible.
“It’s disappointing to hear that. If those people can go home and be happy with themselves…”
Reds boss Arne Slot viewed the incident differently and believes that the fans were probably unaware and just cheering for their team.
“I don’t think this was planned. Maybe the fans weren’t aware there was supposed to be a silence and just wanted to cheer for their team,” he said as quoted by Sun Sport.
“The Palace fans were trying to calm them down, but that made noise, and then our fans reacted, but I don’t think there was any bad intention. Fans of Palace, everywhere around the world, have paid huge respect to Diogo and Andre.
“And we will see on Friday, when Bournemouth come to our stadium, how respectful that’s going to be.”
Source: Getty Images
Crystal Palace fans apologise for jeering incident
A Crystal Palace fan support group on X published a statement explaining the incident and issuing an apology to the Liverpool community.
Fanzine claimed that many of the fans had issues getting in because of the poor stewardship, and thus arrived unaware of what was going on.
“All we can do is apologise. It’s a disappointing thing to have happened, and we’re sorry. We’ve had a good rapport with Liverpool fans over the years. We don’t do tragedy chanting; we care for our community. We have a lot in common as fans,” a part of the statement reads.
Community Shield prize money
Legit.ng reported on the Community Shield’s prize money after Crystal Palace beat Liverpool 3-2 on penalties to win the curtain raiser match.
The game has no financial reward for the participating clubs, and the revenue generated gets distributed across charities, which is the aim of the match.
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Source: Legit.ng
