Football star, Cristiano Ronaldo, once sold his 2013 edition of the Ballon d’Or trophy to a billionaire from Israel. There is a special reason why Cristiano sold the Ballon d’Or trophy. He was involved in charity work and was later auctioned off by the Make-A-Wish charity.
However, the trophy sold by Cristiano Ronaldo is not the original, but only a replica. The original trophy remains in the Portugal national team captain’s museum in Madeira, Portugal.
Israeli billionaire who won the auction of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Ballon d’Or trophy is named Idan Ofer. The trophy was auctioned off at a price of 645,000 dollars. After the buying and selling activities were successful, Ronaldo chose to donate the proceeds to charity.
Thanks to this act of support, Ronaldo is able to help children affected by serious illnesses and other problems through the Make-A-Wish foundation. Ronaldo has five Ballon d’Or awards. Ronaldo won the award in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017.However, the 2013 edition was the year in which he beat Lionel Messi and Franck Ribery. Messi, in addition, won 7 times of the award (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019 and 2021). It can be said that Ronaldo and Messi compete fiercely for the award in the past 10 years.
Reporting from the Daily Mail, apart from Ronaldo there are Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho who are also reported to have donated £26,500 for the Make-A-Wish charity.
Moreover, Idan Ofer is a 62 year old businessman from Israel, who lives in England. He has built up a significant fortune, largely through his international oil and shipping businesses. In addition, Idan Ofer is also a controlling shareholder in Israel Corp, a specialty chemicals, energy and manufacturing company, which he runs.
In 2017, Ofer acquired 32 percent of Atletico Madrid’s shares and started his adventure in football. He later become the owner with the largest share of the Portuguese team, FC Famalicao. In 2018, Ofer purchased a 51% stake of the club via Quantum Pacific Group in Portuguese second league football, which he subsequently increased to 85% in 2019. In 2019, Famalicão was promoted to the top-tier football league in Portugal.
