Arne Slot responds to pre-match tribute to late Liverpool star Diogo Jota being interrupted & cut short
Liverpool manager Arne Slot has addressed the uncomfortable situation of pre-match tributes to late Reds forward Diogo Jota being interrupted and ended prematurely.
Jota and his brother were sadly both killed in a car crash earlier in the summer, and Liverpool fans have been mourning their former number 20 and paying tribute to him during their pre-season fixtures.
There was a minute’s silence at Wembley Stadium this afternoon before the Community Shield match against Crystal Palace, but it had to be cut short due to some noise.
See below as journalist James Benge has quoted Slot after the game when he was asked about his thoughts on the incident, with the Dutch tactician seemingly of the view that it was probably a misunderstanding by perhaps one Palace fan, with others then trying to get him to be quiet…
Slot on tribute to Jota and Silva being stopped prematurely: "I don’t think this was planned. Maybe the fan was not aware of the minute’s silence and was happy and tried to cheer for his team, then the Palace fans tried to calm him down. I don’t think they had a bad intention."
— James Benge (@jamesbenge) August 10, 2025
“I don’t think this was planned,” Slot said. “Maybe the fan was not aware of the minute’s silence and was happy and tried to cheer for his team, then the Palace fans tried to calm him down. I don’t think they had a bad intention.”
Liverpool’s difficult summer after Diogo Jota death
Jota was a key part of the Liverpool first-team and a popular member of the squad, with his death clearly hitting everyone involved with the club very hard.
Liverpool have retired the number 20 shirt in tribute to Jota, while fans laid wreaths outside Anfield and several players attended his funeral.
There’ll be plenty at Liverpool who are still hurting, and it must be tricky for them all to be going into the new season not that long after such shocking and sad news.
Liverpool beaten in Community Shield
Overall, it wasn’t Liverpool’s day as they lost on penalties to Palace at Wembley, following a 2-2 draw after 90 minutes.
New signings Hugo Ekitike and Jeremie Frimpong impressed with goals on their LFC debuts, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Palace twice coming from behind.
Read our Liverpool player ratings here to see how everyone got on, with Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk both uncharacteristically poor.
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