Portuguese Liverpool forward and Luna Esports owner Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, have died in a car crash.
Diogo Jota was 28 years old, married his long-term partner just two weeks ago, and had three children.
Local law enforcement in Zamora, Spain, where the accident took place, confirmed the car left the road after bursting its tyre while overtaking before catching fire.
The professional footballer was also a keen gamer and esports fan, becoming owner of esports team Galaxy Racer in 2023.
The team merged with his own team, Diogo Jota Esports, to form Luna Galaxy which later rebranded to Luna Esports.
Luna had its biggest victory last year as EA FC pro João ‘jafonso’ Vasconcelos , won the FC 24 Esports World Cup title.
The Portuguese esports pro qualified by the Last Chance Qualifier before taking home $300k (£220k) of the $1 million (£732k) prize pool.
Jafonso’s victory recently featured on the Esports World Cup Level Up documentary on Prime Video.
Jota attended last year’s Esports World Cup in person alongside fellow footballers Neymar and Wesley Sneijder.
Jota was a keen and talented competitive gamer himself, especially in FIFA/EA FC.
Many from the esports world paid tribute to Diogo Jota following his passing.
The Liverpool forward would regularly stream himself gaming with fans on his own Twitch channel.
He topped the global leaderboards in FIFA 21 and defeated Trent Alexander-Arnold in the inaugural ePremier League Invitational which aired on Sky Sports in 2020.
He once celebrated a goal by sitting down and pretending to play games on a controller.
This signature celebration was then added to FIFA 23 so gamers could do the same.
But of course, Jota was best known for his elite football career, making 398 club professional appearances and scoring 136 goals, with Liverpool, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and FC Porto just some of the clubs he played for.
Jota was likely due to return to Liverpool for pre-season training next week, July 8th.
Last season, he scored the first Liverpool goal under new manager Arne Slot.
They would go on to win the Premier League, Jota’s first with the club.
Jota also had a successful international career with Portugal, making 49 appearances and scoring 14 times for his country.
The last match he played was in the UEFA Nation League Final as he helped Portugal win the tournament after they defeated Spain on penalties.
Esports News UK offers their condolences to Diogo Jota, Andre Silva, and their families.
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