Erling Haaland's signature from Tuesday's Champions League tie between Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City is set to be donated to charity.
Assistant referee Octavian Sovre caused a stir when he raced after Haaland in the players' tunnel following the game, which City won 2-1 thanks to Phil Foden's late goal.
The Romanian official asked Haaland to sign both a yellow and a red card for the high-profile forward to sign in a move that prompted criticism from some pundits.
Former City defender Joleon Lescott said on BT Sport post-match that the act was 'childish' and did not reflect well on the officials.
He said: "There's never a right time for that, it just doesn't bode well for the officials. It's a childish thing to see."
Meanwhile, ex-City midfielder Owen Hargreaves said the Sovre asking for an autograph would not look right to other players.
He said: "You can be a fan, but you can't do that in front of the other players, it just doesn't look right."
Yet a childhood friend of Sovre has now revealed that the cards will be auctioned for charity later this month to help provide therapy at the SOS Autism Bihor centre in Romania, which is funded by donations and often runs auctions to raise money.
Speaking to Gazeta Sporturilor, SOS Autism Bihor president Simona Zlibut explained that Sovre has already helped to donate a lot of money through gaining players' autographs.
She said: "That autograph is for a noble cause. Maybe people don't know, but Tavi is directly involved in supporting this Association. He has helped us a lot all these years."
It has also been claimed that Sovre had been hoping to get Pep Guardiola's autograph but could only catch up with Haaland.
Speaking after learning of the incident, City boss Guardiola said he did not see a problem with Sovre's actions.
He said: "They told me, I didn’t see it, maybe he’s a fan.
"Why not? The referees were brilliant, the game was not a problem. Not a penalty, the VAR said that. And the leg is higher from Bellingham. So they were perfect and it was correct. Maybe it was for his son or daughter.
"It happens but they did a good job, that’s all. Nothing happened."
