Riyadh: Two of football’s all-time greats— Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will meet on the pitch of Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh.
The friendly match between the French club and an all-star team made up of players from the two top Saudi teams— Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal will take place on January 19 at the King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh.
Turki Al-Sheikh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority, said that the match in which the two stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will meet in the Kingdom recorded two million requests to purchase tickets.
Arabic Al-Ekhbariya TV quoted Turki Al-Sheikh, on Sunday evening, as saying, “Two million requests for tickets for Al-Hilal Stars and Al-Nasr match with Paris Saint-Germain.”
Al-Sheikh told Al Arabiya, “Everything is possible in Saudi Arabia in light of the support of our wise leadership.
“The cup represents a historic event by all standards, and is unprecedented in the history of football, after requests to attend reached more than 2 million from 170 countries.
“This is the largest in the history of Paris Saint-Germain matches.”
Al-Sheikh revealed that an auction had been launched to buy a single ticket “beyond imagination”, the price of which starts with one million riyals to attend the match.
Al-Sheikh made it clear, on Twitter, that the auction will not start with less than one million riyals on the unique ticket “beyond imagination.”
The ticket gives its holder a unique opportunity to attend and eat lunch or dinner with the two teams, in addition to other privileges such as attending the coronation and entering the dressing room of both sides of the match. The auction ends on January 17.
Messi will stop in Doha ahead of the match to train at the Khalifa Stadium, which has hosted several 2022 World Cup matches.
Ronaldo was signed by Al-Nassr on a two-and-a-half-year deal announced on December 31 following his exit from Manchester United. The Portuguese superstar is yet to play for the Riyadh-based club.
