Signed football shirts from Cristiano Ronaldo, Leonardo Bonucci, and Paulo Dybala have been sold at auction and raised over GBP 200,000 to help earthquake victims in Turkey.
And a signed Leo Messi shirt is now up for auction until tomorrow.
The auction was organised by Turkish footballer Merih Demiral, 24, who played together with the other three at Juventus in previous seasons to win the Italian league title in 2020.
The Ronaldo shirt was owned by Demiral as part of his personal collection and he donated it to the auction, with the other two shirts donated by the other two players themselves.
Demiral, who is currently a centre-back for Serie A club Atalanta and the Turkish national team, originally said on Twitter: “I just spoke with Cristiano. He said that he was very sad about what happened in Turkey. We are auctioning Ronaldo’s signed shirt in my collection.
“All proceeds from the auction will be used in the earthquake zone.”
And after the auction, Demiral said on Twitter: “In the auction we started, three shirts found their owners! ‘AhlatciHolding’ bought Ronaldo, Bonucci and Dybala shirts, which went on sale, for a total of TRY 5 million.”
The total amount is roughly GBP 219,250.
Demiral added that the funds had already been “deposited into the association’s account” and tagged ‘Ahbap’, which loosely means ‘Buddy’ and is a Turkish NGO and fundraising platform.
Emergency workers are battling against the clock to save people from the rubble, with the international community sending in numerous experts to assist.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that 19,388 people are dead and 77,711 injured in the country.
The total death toll in Turkey and Syria now exceeds 22,765 people, with the latest figures indicating more than 3,377 people dead in Syria.
The World Bank has promised USD 1.78 billion to Turkey in relief and recovery assistance.
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck early on Monday morning in southern Turkey, devastating the south of the country and northern Syria, has been described by Turkish President Erdogan as one of the worst disasters in decades.
He visited the region for the first time on Wednesday (8th February).
A second earthquake of 7.6 magnitude hit the same region again at 11:24am local time on Monday, causing even more damage.
More than 11,000 buildings have reportedly collapsed in Turkey, with damage and destruction spanning a border region of approximately 650 miles.
Volunteer rescue workers in northern Syria have said that they lack the most basic equipment to rescue those trapped under the rubble of their homes.
