Spanish side Barcelona and Argentina’s Boca Juniors will contest the Maradona Cup on Nov. 25 as part of Riyadh Season, Turki Al-Sheikh, chairman of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority, revealed on Monday night.
The announcement, in a message posted on Twitter, of the meeting between two of legendary Argentinian star Diego Maradona’s former clubs came a day after it was revealed that former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will coach a combined team of Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr stars in a match against Paris Saint-Germain in the Riyadh Season Cup next January.
Al-Sheikh’s tweet about the Maradona Cup match included a short video that showed the Argentinian star scoring his famous solo goal against England during the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, along with highlights from his time with Barcelona and Boca Juniors. It ends with the words “legend forever.”
The PSG match, in the third week of January will be the first time the French side has played in Saudi Arabia. Their match against an “all-star” team of players from two of the Kingdom’s biggest clubs, to be held in the third week of January, is expected to be one of the top events during Riyadh Season.
The inaugural Riyadh Season in 2019 attracted more than 10 million visitors. After a break because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it returns returns this month. Described as one of the biggest global entertainment festivals, with a diverse program of events and experiences spread across 14 venues in the capital, it will continue until March 2022.