Chelsea, Utd join hands with Singha for flood relief
Singha Corporation, a global partner of both Manchester United and Chelsea, conducted an auction of the memorabilia donated by players of both the clubs and raised Bt 1.68 million at the Crystal Design Center yesterday.
The money will be handed over to a charitable fund to help flood victims in Thailand.
There were 37 items from both clubs including shirts signed by players such as Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez, Nani, Ryan Giggs, Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba and Juan Mata, footballs signed by all firstteam players of each club, boots and armbands.
The highlight of the auction was Nemanja Vidic's captain armband, which was bought by Piti Bhirombhakdi, group marketing manager and regional marketing director of Singha Corporation, for Bt120,000.
The most expensive item was a Manchester United shirt signed by all first team players at Bt155,000. The shirt was successfully bid by Sanae Jaruwarapirom, the owner of sporting goods company Nationman. His bid was worth Bt375,000 for a total of five items.
Another highlight of the auction was the boots of Fabio Da Silva, who wore it in the Champions League final against Barcelona in 20102011. It was bagged by an unknown bidder for Bt105,000.
“We feel good to have a chance to do something for Thai soccer fans,” the Manchester United players said in a message to Thai fans.
Piti said that it was a fine opportunity for Manchester United and Chelsea to join hands and do something good for the society.
“The disaster affected many Thai people. Our company tried in our own humble ways to rehabilitate the people,” he said.
Thailand was severely hit by the worst flood in half century that caused more than 700 deaths.
