Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are known to be two very charitable people. They have assisted for many years, providing funding to those in need. The current Coronavirus pandemic has led to more charities needing help, and as you would expect, these two have stepped up and helped out. But what does each of them do for charity?

Lionel Messi Charity Funding

The latest contract that Lionel Messi has signed gives him a salary of around £500,000 per week from Barcelona. On top of this, the star also gets a variety of sponsorship deals, including a huge one from Adidas for him to wear their boots.

Messi doesn’t keep all of this to himself though, and over the years he has been known to be a very charitable person. This can be seen during the current pandemic, where Messi has taken a 70% wage cut to help Barcelona keep their costs down as much as possible.

When it comes to charity work, Messi has set up his own foundation called the Leo Messi Foundation. This works mainly with vulnerable children and healthcare groups, which are the two focus areas of Messi’s work.

So far during the pandemic, Lionel Messi has donated €1 million. This has been split, with 500k going to a hospital in Barcelona and another 500k going to a hospital in his homeland of Argentina.

Cristiano Ronaldo Charity Funding

Cristiano Ronaldo earnt $109 million in the year 2019. This was split roughly 60/40 between his wage from Juventus and the many sponsorship deals that he has in place. The biggest of those is with Nike, who will pay Ronaldo a reported $1 billion for the rest of his life to be part of their team.

Like Messi, Ronaldo has been seen to give charitable donations to many organisations in the past, though he does apparently love to spend money on watches. He has teamed up with a Portuguese cancer treatment centre to donate money to them, and reportedly paid for the treatment of a 10-year-old fan who required brain surgery.

The Coronavirus pandemic has seen Ronaldo go into his funds again. He has donated a total of €1 million, just like Messi, to help fight the virus. The money way given to three intensive care units in Portugal, his home country, as they tackled the virus.

Who Does More – Messi or Ronaldo?

While we usually see these two compared on the football field, with fans using betting sites in the UK to determine the winner, it is off the field that this comparison lies with their charity work.

While both should be applauded for their charitable work, both overall and during the current pandemic, Lionel Messi has the edge over Ronaldo.

This is because of the foundation he has created in his name. Hopefully, this will not only last during his playing career, but it can be something that goes on forever, helping youngsters and those in need through the name of one of the greatest football players to ever live.