Legends Cup promises to be true battle for honours — ‘a la clasico’
The match, if the organisers are to be believed, will produce the same intensity as their famous rivalry in the Spanish La Liga as the former superstars of Real Madrid and Barcelona will be competing for the entire 90 minutes
raoas@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: The much awaited Legends Cup match between former superstars of Real Madrid and fellow Spanish giants Barcelona, to be played at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex on Friday, will be a true battle for supremacy, a la ‘El Clasico’.
The match, if the organisers are to be believed, will produce the same intensity as their famous rivalry in the Spanish La Liga as they will be competing, just like in any of their encounters, for the entire 90 minutes, followed by a penalty shootout in the event of no result at the end of the regulation time.
“The teams will be fighting for the Cup and that means they will be giving their best for 90 min- utes. If required, there will also be a shootout,” said Said Al Shabibi, General Manager of Zan For Events and Conferences, who are organising the match in co-ordination with the Ministry of Sports Affairs. And that’s not all. There will be, besides the Cup and the pride, a lot more at stake for the legendary players.
Al Shabibi, speaking at a media conference at Hotel Intercontinental yesterday, revealed there will be individual prizes like the best player, the best goalkeeper and many other prizes.
Special trophy
The 55cm Cup, specially designed in the United Kingdom, is made of gold, silver and bronze and cost the organisers $25,000. And according to one member of the organising team, be- sides the main cup, there will also be 10 cups and 100 traditional gifts, worth more than $100,000, to be given to individual players as well as the sponsors.
Al Shabibi also gave details of both the teams’ arrivals and a host of other activities they will be involved in before the all-important match.
“Real Madrid team will be the first to arrive in the early hours of March 13 followed by Barcelona stars. They will be at Intercontinental and on the day of their arrival, they will take part in a special event and a media conference at the Omantel headquarters,” he informed.
“Later in the day, they will be visiting Seeb City Centre and Al Qurm City Centre for a special programme where their fans will get an opportunity to interact with their stars.” The teams will be shown around the capital city, courtesy the Ministry of Tourism, on the morning of March 14, followed by a luncheon, after which they will head straight to the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex to play the match that will kick-off at 7pm.
All set for the match
Meanwhile, Organising Committee Chairman Khalifa Al Issayie, who is also the Director General of Sports Activities at the Ministry of Sports Affairs, said all arrangements are in place for the match.
“We made all the necessary arrangements, thanks to the advanced planning for the event.”
The news of the match has created frenzy among the soccer fans and the fact can be gauged from the response to the ticket sales.
According to Al Shabibi, there is a great demand for the tickets.
“The ticket sales are great. We have already sold 80 per cent of VVIP ( OMR100) and VIP (OMR50) tickets and 60 per cent of first class tickets (OMR10). As of yesterday evening, 45 per cent OMR7 tickets have been lapped up by the fans,” he said.
“As the match day approaches, we have decided to launch a special package for the students by reducing
the OMR7 ticket price to OMR5.”
Biggest event
Meanwhile, Al Shabibi also thanked the sponsors for coming forward to support the event.
“Right from the beginning, we have received a good response from the Ministry of Sports Affairs and the sponsors,” he said.
“When we initially approached the sports ministry with our proposal, they readily agreed for the match,” he added. “And I am also very proud of the sponsors who came forward to lend their support.”
Among the officials representing the sponsors, who attended the media conference, were Hassan Shaaban of National Bank of Oman, Sultan Al Hosni of Omantel, Haitham Al Maamari of Omanoil, and Khalid Habib of the Ministry of Tourism.
The Times of Oman and its sister publications, Al Shabiba Arabic daily and Hi Weekly, are exclusive media sponsors of the match. Delighted with the sponsors’ support and great response from the soccer fans, Al Shabibi said: “To be frank, this is the biggest event ever we have been involved with. We have plans for such similar events in the coming days and with good planning, we are hopeful of implementing them.”