Speeding likely cause of Diogo Jota car crash: Police

MADRID – Liverpool and Portugal star forward Diogo Jota was likely speeding when his car veered off a motorway in Spain last week killing him and his brother, Spanish police said on July 8.

The shock deaths of Jota, 28, and Andre Silva, 25, on July 3 plunged the football world into mourning, less than two weeks after the striker had got married.

An ongoing investigation is examining “the marks left by one of the vehicle’s wheels... everything points to a possible excessive speed beyond the road’s speed limit”, the Civil Guard said.

“All the tests conducted so far indicate that the driver of the vehicle was Diogo Jota,” it added.

The force had previously said a tyre had probably blown out while the vehicle was overtaking, causing it to crash and burst into flames in the north-western province of Zamora.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, a road expert said that the road the pair were driving on was rife with issues, while the speed they were travelling would not have been the only factor in the accident.

Javier Lopez Delgado believed the road surface had been a contributing factor to the tragedy, adding: “You can clearly see it had many faults.”

The newspaper also said that Lopez Delgado, president of the Spanish Association of Road Safety Auditors, pointed the finger at “multiple factors” including the driving speed, saying: “If they had been going at 55mph (89kmh), they probably wouldn’t have been killed.

“It seems very clear they were going very fast because of the skid marks.”

Just hours before the accident, Jota had posted a video of his wedding on June 22 to partner Rute Cardoso, with whom he had three children.

The deaths sparked an outpouring of grief, particularly in the brothers’ native Portugal and at Jota’s English Premier League club Liverpool.

Political leaders as well as star players from Portugal and Liverpool joined family and friends at the funeral on July 5 in the Porto suburb of Gondomar.

Following spells at Atletico Madrid, Porto and Wolverhampton Wanderers, Jota became a fan favourite at Liverpool after joining the Premier League giants in 2020.

He netted 65 times for the Reds in five seasons, lifting the League Cup and FA Cup in 2022 and helping them win a record-equalling 20th English league title last season.

The striker also earned 49 caps for Portugal and was part of the team that won the 2025 Uefa Nations League.

Younger brother Andre played in midfield for FC Penafiel in Portugal’s second tier. AFP