"I received a good offer from the United Arab Emirates," Kiev-based Salenko was quoted as saying by Blik newspaper.
"I had a small business but after the (global) crisis everything is down and I need to pay off some debts," added the former Russia striker, who played for various clubs including Zenit, Dynamo Kiev, Valencia and Rangers before retiring in 2001.
"I'm not totally broke or anything like that so I have to sell everything, but the offer was hard to resist. I was told wealthy Arab sheikhs would take good care of the award by putting it in a local museum."
Salenko notched a World Cup record five goals in Russia's 6-1 thrashing of Cameroon in their final group game at the 1994 finals in the U.S. He and Bulgaria's Hristo Stoichkov both scored six goals in the tournament to finish joint top scorers.
"Of course, I would prefer for the boot to stay in Russia or Ukraine, so if I get the same offer here I wouldn't have to sell it abroad," Salenko said.
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