BeIN Sports to broadcast Ronaldo-Messi showdown in Riyadh Season Cup

BEIN MEDIA GROUP (beIN) has announced that its agship channel, beIN SPORTS, has acquired the rights to broadcast the highly anticipated Riyadh Season Cup, which will take place in Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd International Stadium on Thursday, January 19, 2023, across all of its territories (Middle East and North Africa, France, Turkey, Asia, North America, and Australasia).

PSG will take on players from elite Saudi clubs Al Hilal and AlNassr. In this encounter, new Al Nassr acquisition Cristiano Ronaldo will face off against his longtime rival, PSG striker Leonel Messi, who recently won his first FIFA World Cup with Argentina in Qatar. Ronaldo and Messi have not faced one other since Juventus defeated Barcelona 3-0 in December 2020.

Marcelo Gallardo, a twotime Copa Libertadores winner as manager of River Plate, will lead the Saudi team. Brazil’s Neymar and France World Cup sensation Kylian Mbappe, who was just named best scorer at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, will be among PSG’s players.

In MENA, live studio coverage before the match kicks-off on the beIN SPORTS free-toair channel and beIN SPORTS 2 in Arabic at 19:00 MECCA, while English coverage starts at 19:30 MECCA on beIN SPORTS ENGLISH 1, leading right up to the opening whistle at 20:00 MECCA. French commentary will also be provided on beIN SPORTS FRENCH 2.

Tariq Al Hammad, a Saudi presenter, will lead the Arabic studio analysis, which will be supported by former Saudi national team captain Yasser Al Qahtani, former Tunisian professional and African Footballer of the Year Tarek Dhiab, and former Egyptian professional star Mohamed Aboutrika.

The English studio will be hosted by beIN’s Nicky Crosby, with expert analysis from former French football professional and PSG player Didier Domi, who presently acts as a technical advisor to the PSG Academy in Doha.