Ronaldo's 2013 Ballon d'Or raises £600k at charity auction

The Ballon d'Or trophy won by Cristiano Ronaldo in 2013 has been auctioned off for £600,000 in benefit of the Make-A-Wish Foundation charity. 

Ronaldo beat out Lionel Messi to the award after a strong end to the year, lifting it for the second time in his career. 

And on Wednesday the original replica Ballon d'Or donated by the Real Madrid star was sold to an anonymous donor at the Foundation's 'Art of Wishes' auction at the Dorchester Hotel, London. 

The event, supported by Cartier, centred around the auction of artworks inspired by the wishes of children fighting life threatening conditions and included works from Tracey Emin, Dan Colen and Rob Pruitt, amongst other world-renowned artists. The fundraiser made £2.7 million for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, nearly doubling the original fundraising target of £1.5m.

Ronaldo is a long-term supporter of Make-A-Wish, donating funds and granting wishes to seriously ill children across the world. The Ballon D’Or has been won by Ronaldo 4 times including 2016, but never before has an award of this prestige been donated for an auction.

“To receive a donation of this prestige is unprecedented," Batia Ofer, Patron for Make-A-Wish who conceived, planned and organised The Art of Wishes fundraising gala, said.

"Ronaldo’s generosity is extraordinary and I am overwhelmed by the amount of money raised to help grant wishes for children fighting life-threatening conditions."