Bernstein, Dan The proceeds from the auction of a Cristiano Ronaldo autographed shirt from Merih Demiral’s personal collection will benefit disaster relief.
On Monday, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake destroyed buildings and killed thousands of people, including at least one professional football player, and Demiral said he will do everything he can to help those affected by the natural tragedy.
His personal kit collection includes an autographed Ronaldo shirt from his time at Juventus, which he plans to auction 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.”
Ronaldo signed kit screenshotTwitter
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.”
Demiral used to play for Juventus alongside Ronaldo and is now with Atalanta.
The 24-year-old has 35 senior international caps for Turkey.
Demiral chose the Turkish charity Ahbap as his preferred recipient of funds, while international organizations such as the Turkish Red Crescent and Save the Children are also now taking donations to help individuals on the ground in Turkey and Syria.
