Engraved with the signatures from football superstars Ruud Gullit, Djibril Cisse, Romario, Mijatovic and Ravelli, the exclusive, never-seen-before 14-carat golden football weighs 2.5kg and was handmade in the Netherlands in 2006. Valued at £75,000, it has already received a bid of £45k on online auction house Catawiki.
According to auctioneer Marc Jans, sports memorabilia expert at Catawiki, it is something very special: “The golden ball itself is already unique, but the ball is also engraved with some signatures from some well-known players such as the Dutchman Ruud Gullit and Brazilian Romario.” Although the gold price is at its highest currently, the auctioneer expects that the ball will not be bought by someone who is only interested in the gold: “Next to the gold value, it is the story behind the ball and the signatures that give it symbolic value”.
The football was won back in 2006 by a Dutch football fan – where the golden ball hung in a block of ice during the 2006 Germany World Cup. Part of a competition, the person who guessed how long it would take before the ball would fall, would win the ball. In total, more than 40,000 people participated in the contest. It took the golden ball eventually 663,546 seconds to fall from the block, with the Dutch winner estimate’s only five seconds from the final time.
The link to the football is here: http://auction.catawiki.com/kavels/6102287-golden-football-1-1-exclusive-signed-by-romario-gullit-ciss-mijatovic-and-ravelli
