A Cristiano Ronaldo autographed shirt from Merih Demiral’s personal collection will be auctioned, with proceedings going to disaster relief.
WHAT HAPPENED? A 7.7-magnitude earthquake on Monday collapsed buildings and killed thousands of people, including at least one professional football player, and Demiral said he will do what he can to assist those devastated by the natural disaster. His personal kit collection includes a signed Ronaldo shirt from when the Portuguese star played at Juventus, and he will auction the item after speaking with the Al-Nassr forward.
“I just spoke with Cristiano,” Demiral wrote on Twitter. “He said that he was very sad about what happened in Turkey. We are auctioning Ronaldo’s signed jersey in my collection. All proceeds from the auction will be used in the earthquake zone.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Demiral’s post immediately received tens of thousands of likes, and other football players are now offering up their own memorabilia. In a follow-up tweet, he wrote: “And now I talked to Leonardo Bonucci. He expressed his sadness and said that Turkey stands by our people. He also said he donated a signed Juventus jersey.”
AND WHAT’S MORE: Demiral played alongside Ronaldo at Juventus and now turns out for Atalanta. At international level, the 24-year-old has 35 senior caps with Turkey.
WHAT NEXT FOR FUNDRAISING? Demiral chose Turkish charity Ahbap as his preferred place to donate, but international organisations such as Turkish Red Crescent and Save The Children are among the other organisations currently accepting donations as they aid people on the ground in Turkey and Syria.