Saudi mogul pays more than £2million at auction to watch Cristiano Ronaldo take on Lionel Messi today

A Saudi real estate tycoon who bought $2.6 million at auction has won a ticket to see Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi square off in a friendly, according to an official.

The game will take held in Riyadh on January 19th. The team that Lionel Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain will face will be a combination of players from Al Nassr, Cristiano Ronaldo’s new club, and Al Hilal, a Saudi rivalry team.

It will mark the first time Ronaldo has played any football in the kingdom since signing a contract with Al Nassr that runs until 2025 and is worth more than 200 million euros ($214m), according to sources close to the club.

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 friendly, Turki al-Sheikh, an adviser at the Royal Court and head of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, announced a charity auction for a special ticket that would come with perks like photo opportunities with players and access to the locker rooms

Bidding started at 1 million Saudi riyals ($266,000) and the auction closed at 11:30pm (20:30 GMT) on Tuesday.

Al-Sheikh has now announced on Twitter the winning bid of 10 million riyals ($2.6m) had come from Mushref al-Ghamdi.

“Congratulations, you deserve it, and may God reward you with good,” Sheikh said.

The national charity initiative known as Ehsan will receive the auction’s revenues.