Dončić's championship sneakers up for a charity auction
Ljubljana, 25 September - The sneakers worn by Slovenian teenage basketball star Luka Dončić at the EuroBasket have been put on a charity auction, having so far reached the price of more than EUR 10,000. The auction for the memorabilia, which will finance young sport talents as part of the Botrstvo project, will conclude on Friday.
Ljubljana
The sneakers worn by Slovenian basketball player Luka Dončić at the 2017 EuroBasket sold at a charity auction for EUR 300,000.
Photo: Val 202
Dončić, who was voted among the five best players of the tournament, has donated the sneakers just moments after winning a spectacular title of the 2017 EuroBasket champions with the Slovenian national team.
The sneakers signed by Dončić, which are on their way to Ljubljana from Madrid, where he plays professionally for the powerhouse Real Madrid, have exceeded the price of EUR 10,000.
The money collected in the auction, carried out by the Val 202 national radio station, will be donated to young basketball talents, including a nine-grader who is considered one of the most promising talents in his generation in Slovenia.
He lost his mother as an infant, and was unexpectedly left without a father a few months ago. He and his older brother now live with their grandmother.
This is the sixth humanitarian auction carried out by the national radio station, with Dončić's shoes having already exceeded the sum collected with a jersey of the Portuguese and Real Madrid football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo in July 2013 (EUR 9,000).
The record is held by a pair of skis used by Slovenian ski jumping champion Peter Prevc in his winning World Cup season 2015/16. The skis were sold in March 2016 for EUR 45,000.
The campaign Botrstvo (The Sponsorship in Slovenia), co-organised by the Slovenian Association of Friends of Youth, has so far collected ten million euros in donations, distributing the funds among more than 5,000 children from families in need.