A ticket to see Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi play in a friendly reportedly cost a Saudi real estate billionaire $2.6 million (SR 10 million) at an auction.
On Thursday in Riyadh, a side made up of players from Ronaldo's new club Al Nassr and their Saudi rivals Al Hilal will compete against Messi's Paris Saint-Germain.
Ronaldo agreed to a contract with Al Nassr that runs until 2025 and is worth more than 200 million euros ($214 million), according to sources close to the club. His first football game in the kingdom will be this one.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo will play his first Saudi Pro League game for Al Nassr on Sunday.
Turki al-Sheikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority and a Royal Court advisor, has announced a charity auction for a special ticket to the friendly game on Thursday that includes meet-and-greets with the players and entry to the locker rooms.
The auction took place on Tuesday night from 1 million Saudi riyals ($266,000) to 11:30 p.m. local time.
The winning bidder, real estate investor Mushref Al Ghamdi, who put in an offer of 10 million riyals ($2.6 million), was identified by Al-Sheikh via Twitter.
“Congratulations, you deserve it, and may God reward you with good,” Sheikh said.
The Ehsan national charity campaign will receive the proceeds from the auction.
PSG stars, including France forward Kylian Mbappe and Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi, who helped the team become the first Arab and African team to reach the World Cup semi-finals last year in Qatar, are anticipated to play alongside Messi on Thursday.
Salem Al-Dawsari, who scored the game-winning goal in the Green Falcons’ shocking group-stage victory over Argentina, is a member of the Saudi squad.
Many people believe that Saudi Arabia is “sportswashing,” or using sports to deflect attention away from human rights concerns. The country has been buying sports assets as part of a campaign to soften its austere image.