Football stars donated $400,000 to earthquake zones

Former Juventus defender Merih Demiral has initiated a campaign in which he is auctioning jerseys of football stars on social media for the victims of the strong earthquake that struck southeastern Türkiye and neighbouring Syria on February 6, devastating cities and killing and injuring tens of thousands.

Demiral, a Turkish football player for Italy’s Atalanta, donated a signed, match-worn Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) jersey of Lionel Messi from his personal collection to the earthquake victims.

Jerseys of his former teammates Cristiano Ronaldo, Leonardo Bonucci and Paulo Dybala were sold for around $265,500 (5M Turkish liras).

The auction has been growing thanks to Demiral’s efforts in acquiring jerseys, with Demiral thanking Hakan Calhanoglu, Dejan Kulusevski, Ilkay Gundogan, Emre Can, and Gianluigi Donnarumma for their work in spreading the word.

Manchester City pair Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne, Tottenham’s Harry Kane, Alvaro Morata and Antoine Griezmann of Atletico Madrid joined the campaign, among others.

Demiral said that all proceeds from the sales, which have made around $400,000 in total, would be donated to the local Turkish NGO Ahbap to be used in the quake zones.

The earthquake killed at least 31,643 people and impacted more than 13 million across 10 provinces in southeastern Türkiye. ( Source TRT World)