What time is PSG v Saudi all-stars match and how can you watch Ronaldo v Messi in UAE?

Follow live: Ronaldo v Messi as PSG play Saudi all-stars

Cristiano Ronaldo is all set to make his maiden appearance in Saudi Arabia on Thursday after his record deal with Al Nassr, and it is going to be a memorable one.

The Portuguese star has had to wait for his first outing in the kingdom as he was serving a two-match domestic ban imposed by the English FA for knocking a phone out of a fan's hand when he played for Manchester United against Everton last April.

Ronaldo, who turns 38 next month, agreed to a contract with Al Nassr that runs until 2025 and is reportedly worth more than $200 million.

And now, after a long wait, Ronaldo will finally take to the field. The star forward will feature in the “Riyadh Season Cup” exhibition game on Thursday as part of an all-star team comprising players from Ronaldo's new club Al Nassr and city rivals Al Hilal. Facing this combined team will be a star-studded Paris Saint-Germain side that will also have Ronaldo's long-time rival Lionel Messi.

Apart from Messi, PSG's line-up is also expected to include France star Kylian Mbappe and Brazil great Neymar.

The Saudi select team includes Salem Al Dawsari, who scored the winning goal in the Green Falcons' shock win over eventual champions Argentina in the World Cup's group stage.

Portugal and Saudi club Al Nassr star Cristiano Ronaldo meets Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti in Riyadh. Photo: Real Madrid Twitter / @realmadriden

Cristiano Ronaldo with Roberto Carlos during Real Madrid's training in Riyadh on Friday, January 13, 2023. Photo: Real Madrid Twitter / @realmadriden

Cristiano Ronaldo with Vinicius Jr. Photo: Real Madrid Twitter / @realmadriden

Cristiano Ronaldo meets Real Madrid's Rodrygo Goes. Photo: Real Madrid Twitter / @realmadriden

Cristiano Ronaldo with Eder Militao. Photo: Real Madrid Twitter / @realmadriden

Fixture

Riyadh Season Cup, Riyadh All-Star XI v PSG at King Fahd Stadium, Riyadh

When is the match?

Thursday, January 19, 2023, from 9pm UAE time (8pm Makkah)

How to watch Ronaldo v Messi in the UAE?

The match will be shown on beIN Sports across the Mena region. Live coverage begins on the beIN Sports free-to-air channel and beIN Sports 2 in Arabic from 8pm UAE time, while English coverage starts at 8.30pm on beIN Sports English 1.

Tickets

Demand for tickets for the match is extremely high. According to Reuters, the game has already received more than two million online ticket requests.

To top it all, a Saudi real estate businessman won a special VIP ticket to see the friendly after bidding $2.6 million at auction.

Turki Al Sheikh, an adviser at the Royal Court and head of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, had earlier announced the auction for a VIP ticket, named "Beyond Imagination".

The ticket provides a number of unique benefits, including photo opportunities with players and access to the respective dressing rooms. Al Sheikh then announced on Twitter that real-estate entrepreneur Mushref Al Ghamdi had put in a winning bid of 10 million riyals ($2.6 million) for the special ticket.

Proceeds from the auction will go to the national charity campaign "Ehsan".

In pictures: 30,000 fans attend PSG training in Doha as Messi prepares for Ronaldo showdown

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?

Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.

They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.

“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.

He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.