Diogo Jota and Cristiano Ronaldo (Image: Getty Images)

Cristiano Ronaldo has defended his decision not to attend the funeral of Diogo Jota, the former Liverpool and Portugal forward, who tragically died in a car accident last July.

Jota, along with his brother Andre Silva, was en route to the port city of Santander to catch a ferry back to the UK when their Lamborghini spun off the road and burst into flames near Zamora, Spain, following a tyre blowout.

The funeral took place in their hometown of Gondomar, Portugal just two days after their deaths were confirmed, with several former teammates present. However, one notable absentee was Ronaldo, who had played alongside Jota in the Portugal national team for six years.

Ronaldo has now explained his absence from the funeral in an interview on Piers Morgan's YouTube channel. He said: "People criticised me a lot, I don't care about that...