Ronaldo jersey auctioned off by Turkish player Demiral to support victims

Turkish football player Merih Demiral has auctioned off Cristiano Ronaldo's jersey from his personal collection in support of Turkey's earthquake victims, Demiral said earlier this week.

Demiral, who played alongside Ronaldo at Juventus, said in a Twitter post on Tuesday that he was auctioning a Ronaldo Juventus jersey signed by the Portuguese superstar.

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“I just spoke with Cristiano. He said that he was very sad about what happened in Turkey. We are auctioning Ronaldo's signed jersey in my collection,” Demiral said. “All proceeds from the auction will be used in the earthquake zone.”

Demiral's initiative saw other former teammates follow suit with Italian player Leonardo Bonucci and Argentinian player Paulo Dybala donating signed jerseys that were also auctioned.

On Wednesday, all three jerseys were sold for a total of $ 265,454 (5 million Turkish liras), according to Demiral's Twitter account.

A deadly earthquake struck Turkey and neighboring Syria early Monday, causing massive destruction, and leaving over 16,000 dead in both countries. The 7.8-magnitude earthquake was one of the strongest to have the struck the region.

Several countries have sent rescue and medic teams to both countries to aid with the recovery efforts and launched fundraising relief campaigns.

Ronaldo is currently playing with Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr football club having signed a contract with the club through 2025. He is currently based in the Saudi capital Riyadh with his family.