Lionel Messi's signed, match-worn jersey put at auction for quake victims in Türkiye

By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp

ANKARA (AA) - Merih Demiral, a Turkish football player for Italy's Atalanta, on Friday said that he auctioned Lionel Messi's signed, match-worn Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) shirt for the Turkish earthquake victims.

Demiral said that all proceeds from the sale will be donated to Turkish NGO Ahbap to be used in the quake zone.

He added that the bidding will be closed on Saturday at 1900GMT as the offers can be made via Twitter and e-mail.

Turkish international Demiral also thanked his compatriot Hakan Calhanoglu, an Inter Milan midfielder, and PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma for reaching out to the Argentine forward.

Demiral, 24, previously auctioned shirts of his former teammates, Cristiano Ronaldo, Leonardo Bonucci and Paulo Dybala, for charity and sold the jerseys for 5 million Turkish liras or around $265.500.

A famous Turkish rock music singer, Haluk Levent, 54, founded the voluntary network "Ahbap" in 2017 to help people in need.

At least 19,388 people were killed and 77,711 others injured by two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye on Monday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes, centered in Kahramanmaras province, affected more than 13 million people across 10 provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.