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Last Updated: January 18, 2023, 06:56 IST
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo (Twitter)
Lionel Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain will go up in opposition to a choose aspect made up of gamers from Cristiano Ronaldo’s new membership Al Nassr and their rivals Al Hilal in Riyadh
A Saudi actual property mogul received a ticket to see Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi face off in a pleasant after bidding $2.6 million at public sale, an official stated Tuesday.
The match on Thursday in Riyadh is ready to pit Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain in opposition to a choose aspect made up of gamers from Ronaldo’s new membership Al Nassr and their Saudi rivals Al Hilal.
It will mark the primary time Ronaldo has performed any soccer within the kingdom since signing a contract with Al Nassr that runs till 2025 and is value greater than 200 million euros ($214 million), based on sources near the membership.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is scheduled to make his Saudi Pro League debut for Al Nassr on Sunday.
To promote Thursday’s pleasant, Turki al-Sheikh, an advisor on the Royal Court and head of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, introduced a charity public sale for a particular ticket that might include perks like photograph alternatives with gamers and entry to the locker rooms.
Bidding began at 1 million Saudi riyals ($266,000) and the public sale closed at 11:30 p.m. native time on Tuesday.
Sheikh then introduced on Twitter the profitable bid of 10 million riyals ($2.6 million) had come from Mushref al-Ghamdi.
“Congratulations, you deserve it, and should God reward you with good,” Sheikh said.
The proceeds from the auction are due to go to the national charity campaign known as Ehsan.
Besides Messi, PSG stars expected to play on Thursday include France striker Kylian Mbappe and Achraf Hakimi, who last year in Qatar helped make Morocco the first Arab and African team to reach the World Cup semi-finals.
The Saudi select team includes Salem Al-Dawsari, who scored the winning goal in the Green Falcons’ shock defeat of Argentina in the World Cup’s group stage.
Oil-rich monarchy Saudi Arabia, which has been snapping up sports assets as part of a drive to soften its austere image, is often accused of “sportswashing”, or utilizing sport to distract consideration from human rights controversies.
Ronaldo is predicted to obtain a mixed 400 million euros within the kingdom, together with a separate fee for his work as an envoy for an anticipated World Cup bid for Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Greece, based on sources near Al Nassr.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is printed from a syndicated information company feed)
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