Turkish footballer Demiral raises more than $470,000 in jersey auctions for quake victims in Türkiye

By Emre Asikci

ISTANBUL (AA) - Merih Demiral has raised more than 9 million Turkish liras ($470,000) for a charity to help earthquake victims by auctioning signed shirts and gloves of football superstars.

The Atalanta defender said on Twitter that Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Antoine Griezmann's match-worn jerseys were sold for a total of $76,000 at auctions Tuesday.

Demiral, 24, has been holding a charity drive for earthquake victims for days and the signed jersey and gloves of superstars such as Gianluigi Buffon, Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Neymar Jr. have been auctioned.

The proceeds were sent to the Turkish non-governmental organization, Ahbap, that will be used for victims in Türkiye.

Famous Turkish rock music singer Haluk Levent, 54, founded the voluntary network in 2017 to help those in need.

- Napoli players unite to help quake victims

Italian Serie A leaders Napoli began a fundraiser for victims, co-led by former Fenerbahce player Eljif Elmas.

Elmas offered his condolences to Türkiye on Instagram and said: "I am trying to do my best to make their life easier."

The jerseys of Eljif Elmas, Piotr Zielinski and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen were offered to raise money for Türkiye and Syria.

More than 35,400 people have been killed and over 105,000 injured in the deadly quakes that jolted southern Türkiye on Feb 6., according to the official figures.

The 7.7- and 7.6-magnitude quakes, centered in the Kahramanmaras province, affected more than 13 million people across 10 provinces.