Cristiano Ronaldo Sold 2013 Ballon d’Or to Israel’s Richest Man for hefty amount

Football legend Cristiano Ronaldo does not have all of his Ballon d’Ors at home. He had sold his 2013 Ballon d’Or to Idan Ofer, the richest man of Israel after a charitable auction in London back in 2017.

Ronaldo sold 2013 Ballon d’Or for charity

Ronaldo is one of the only two players in the world to win the prestigious individual award on five occasions. He won his first back in 2008 while he played in the colours of Manchester United. He later won it four more times as a Real Madrid icon.

However, his 2013 trophy was a tad bit more special considering how tightly fought the spot was for that particular year. The Portuguese legend beat his archrival Lionel Messi and Franck Ribery to stand tall as the “best”.

After the ceremony was over, Ronaldo had expressed his desire to donate the award to charity for a good cause. It was then later auctioned off as a fund raiser for the foundation called Make-A-Wish. Ofer was the one with the winning bid of €600,000.

Ronaldo auctioned a replica of the Ballon d’Or

However, the auctioned award was not the original one, Ronaldo has specifically asked for an exact replica of his 2013 pride to be used for charity, while the original one remained at his museum in Madeira for display.

The six-figure amount earned after the auction had gone straight to the charity that raises money for granting wishes to children who are affected by critical and fatal illnesses.

However, Ronaldo was himself not present and attending the auction. Instead he had sent his agent at that time, Jorge Mendes with the responsibility to hand the prize to Ofer.

The same auction at London also included a lot of other items to be auctioned off. Those items included meet-and-greet with star manager Pep Guardiola, boss of Manchester City and also with Manchester United’s then boss Jose Mourinho.