The Spanish newspaper "Marca" revealed that one of the five golden balls won by Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, specifically the 2013 Golden Ball, was sold at a charity auction for about 600,000 euros.
The money went to a charity called "Make a Wish" that treats children suffering from rare and serious diseases.
According to the British Daily Mail, the person who won the replica of the award - which Ronaldo presented for auction - is the richest man in Israel named Eddie Ofer, with a fortune of more than 10 billion euros, as he is active in the fields of mining, shipping and energy. In addition to the sports industries.
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates one of his golden balls with Real Madrid fans at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium (European)
The newspaper also mentioned that the one who handed over the Golden Ball to the winner of the auction was Jorge Mendes, Ronaldo's famous agent, who, according to media reports, had separated because of his recent crisis with Manchester United.
Mendes (right) presented the Golden Ball to Israeli businessman Eddie Ofer (foreign press)
In 2017, Ofer acquired an important stake in the Spanish club Atletico Madrid, before buying the lion's share of the shares of the Portuguese club Famalecao.
The five Golden Balls that Ronaldo won (Getty Images)
It is worth noting that Ronaldo won this Golden Ball when he was carrying the Real Madrid shirt, and narrowly advanced to his traditional rival Lionel Messi, the Barcelona player at the time, while Frenchman Franck Ribery came third, although he had achieved a historic hat-trick with Bayern Munich that year.
In the same year, Ronaldo scored 55 goals in all competitions, but he failed to win the Spanish League title - which was won by his arch-rivals Barcelona - and he also failed to win the Champions League, which was won by the Bavarian team.
Typically, the player who wins the most prestigious prize orders a replica to either be given to a team to put in their locker or to keep in their home locker.
Marca confirms that Ronaldo requested a replica of the award to be donated to the charity auction.