Cristiano Ronaldo to headline Dubai International Sports Conference

The Juventus and Portugal forward be a guest speaker

Paulo Dybala of Juventus went to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia in December for the Italian Supercup match against Lazio. Here's a reminder. Getty Images

Cristiano Ronaldo arrives in Riyadh for the Italian Supercup game against Lazio. Getty

Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus arrives at Riyadh Airport, Saudi Arabia. Getty

Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus arrives at Riyadh Airport, Saudi Arabia. Getty

Gianluigi Buffon of Juventus arrives at Riyadh Airport, Saudi Arabia. Getty

Gonzalo Higuain of Juventus arrives at Riyadh Airport, Saudi Arabia. Getty Images

Miralem Pjanic of Juventus arrives at Riyadh Airport. Getty

Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri arrives at Riyadh Airport. Getty

Matthijs de Ligt of Juventus arrives at Riyadh Airport, Saudi Arabia. Getty Images

Leonardo Bonucci of Juventus arrives

Ronaldo jumps above Sampdoria's Italian defender Nicola Murru to score his amazing header during the Italian Serie A match. AFP

Ronaldo celebrates his incredible goal. AP

Juventus have revealed the world’s first-ever football shirt to feature traditional Arabic calligraphy, designed in collaboration with renowned Saudi-Moroccan calligraphy artist, Shaker Kashgari and adidas. Courtesy Juventus.com

Juventus have revealed the world’s first-ever football shirt to feature traditional Arabic calligraphy, and it will be worn in the Italian Supercup.

Cristiano Ronaldo has been confirmed to headline this week’s Dubai International Sports Conference.

The Juventus forward, 34, will appear as guest speaker at the event on Saturday, which takes place at Madinat Jumeirah under the theme “Football Future Accelerators”.

Ronaldo will be joined at the conference by club teammate Miralem Pjanic, fellow Portugal national team forward Joao Felix, and Inter Milan’s Romelu Lukaku. France’s 2018 World Cup-winning manager Didier Deschamps and Wales counterpart Ryan Giggs were also among the names confirmed last week.

Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner, will be present at the Dubai Globe Soccer Awards the following day, where he has been nominated for Best Men’s Player.

A five-time winner of that title – he collected his most recent earlier this year – the Portugal captain is up against Barcelona rival Lionel Messi, Liverpool quartet Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson, and Manchester City winger Bernardo Silva.

Meanwhile, Edwin van der Sar, Fabio Capello, Mikael Silvestre and City chief executive Ferran Soriano have already been secured to speak at the conference, which is now in its 14th year.

However, it will for the first time include an all-female session, featuring 2019 Uefa women’s player of the year Lucy Bronze, France captain Amandine Henry, Italy captain Sara Gama and history-making referee Stephanie Frappart. Moderated by Singapore-based sports journalist Ash Hashim, the discussion is entitled “Empowering Women in Football”.