A soccer shirt bearing the signature of Brazilian soccer player Kaka that was sold to benefit China Charity Federation. [Zou Hong / China Daily]
Beijing soccer fans gathered at a small auction in a shopping mall in Tongzhou district on Sunday to bid on five uniforms bought at World Cup games in South Africa, each bearing the signature of a soccer star.
Messi, Ronaldo, Lampard, Kaka, and Torres jerseys were all up for grabs and when the auction was done, Brazilian player Kaka proved the most popular, as the jersey with his signature sold for 3,000 yuan ($442.78). Spain's participation in the final earlier today may
have helped the Torres jersey sell for 2,700 yuan.
The Ronaldo jersey went for 2,200 yuan, the Messi jersey for 1,800 yuan.
Lampard, who plays for England, was the least popular - the jersey with his signature sold for just 800 yuan. The auction featured local pop singer Man Wenjun as a guest auctioneer.
Man got caught up in the excitement and ended up buying two of the jerseys.
He said that, as a fan of Messi, he couldn't help joining in the action.
"I was a bit surprised at myself too, but I bought the jersey signed by Messi," he said. "I also got the Kaka one for my friend."
The auction shows the capital's passion for the game, said Man.
"Unfortunately, this time China is not in the tournament," said a person surnamed Ye from Mirror Evening News, who hosted the auction. "So, we held this activity to stoke people's excitement for the tournament."
Mirror Evening News journalists originally bought 10 jerseys in South Africa, but couldn't get the other five to the auction due to some transportation problems, Ye said.
The 10 jerseys originally cost $2,000, he said.
Ye directly gave the profits from the auction to the China Charity Federation, which works hand in hand with over 200 affiliated charity organizations worldwide.
