Arne Slot said he would give the benefit of the doubt to Crystal Palace fans heard disrupting the minute’s silence for Diogo Jota in the Community Shield.
A tribute at Sunday’s game was planned to honour both Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva after they perished in a car accident on July 3.
The 28-year-old forward had recently married his childhood sweetheart at a ceremony in his native Portugal following a campaign culminating in trophy-winning successes for both club and country.
However, shortly after both teams lined up on the centre circle to observe a moment of respect for the late forward sounds could be heard from the Palace end at Wembley.
The muttering of noise was then met with boos from the Liverpool fans before they decided to break out into applause, the minute’s silence ultimately cut short.
The incident came moments after Reds supporters chose to boo ‘God Save the King’.
Arne Slot insisted he did not believe that Crystal Palace fans intentionally disrupted the minute’s silence held for Diogo Jota
Noises could be heard inside Wembley as the two teams lined up before the Community Shield on Sunday
But Slot insisted the fans involved were likely unaware that the tribute had been planned
Speaking after his side were defeated on penalties at the home of football, Slot insisted that he believed that the disruptions to the tribute to Jota were not intentional.
‘I always try to be positive and what I think is that this person that maybe was noisy or loud didn’t truly understand there was a minute of silence.’ The Liverpool boss told beIN SPORTS.
‘Because it happened quite a long time ago, I think we all know the minute of silence was there, and like you said, then a few tried to stop it, that leads to noise again.
‘Then our fans are like, “hey, come on, what’s happening over here?”
‘So I think there has been so much understanding from every other team, and we should not see this as a form of disrespect from the fans of Palace.
‘I think it was maybe the guys that made noise probably didn’t know what was happening at that moment.
The Premier League champions kick off their title defence on Friday at home to Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth.
Another tribute will be paid to Jota ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League opener against Bournemouth on Friday
Another tribute to Jota is planned before the Premier League opener and Slot insisted he believes it will be well observed by those in attendance at Anfield.
‘Palace have been outstanding here today, as well as our fans,’ he continued.
‘So we will see Friday when everybody knows the minute of silence is here again, the Bournemouth fans, and our fans will do the right thing.
‘I think everyone tried to do [the right thing] today as well, except for the ones that didn’t do it with a bad idea, in my opinion.’
