Dubai: Ballon d’Or 2013 nominee Cristiano Ronaldo was on Monday confirmed as the latest top star who will be a speaker at the Dubai International Sports Conference, which will be held on Saturday, December 28 under the theme ‘Empowering the future of football’.
This is Real Madrid and Portugal ace Ronaldo’s second participation at the two-day conference, which will be held at Mina Al Salam Hotel in Jumeirah, having previously spoken at the 2011 edition.
Also added to the list of speakers on Monday were legendary ex-Liverpool and Wales striker Ian Rush and former Italian referee Pierluigi Collina. The latter, who is also a member of the Uefa referees’ committee, will be taking part as a speaker and moderator of the opening session.
During the same session, Ronaldo will be accompanied by three children from the Rashid Paediatric Therapy Centre. It is worth noting that in 2011, Ronaldo visited the Dubai Autism Centre, where he met with the centre’s staff and special needs children.
Rush invited
Rush, meanwhile, has been invited to the conference to talk about a grassroots sponsorship and talents discovery programme in England, as ratified by his ex-club Liverpool.
Rush is currently serving as officer in the grassroots sector and ambassador for Liverpool Football Academies in England.
The hat-trick of big names completes a stellar cast list at the conference, which is being under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council.
Ronaldo’s namesake, the former Brazil, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan striker, was due to attend the event, but pulled out due to unconfirmed reasons on Sunday. However, the modern-day Ronaldo’s fellow Ballon d’Or nominee, the Bayern Munich and France winger, Franck Ribery, will be there.
Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola and his club president Uli Hoeness; former England manager and head coach of Russia, Fabio Capello; Juventus coach Antonio Conte; Spain and Barcelona midfield maestro Xavi Hernandez; and Dubai sports ambassador and Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona will also attend the glittering function.
Mohammad Al Kamali, member of the Executive Office of the Dubai Sports Council and head of the conference’s organising committee, made the announcement about Ronaldo’s participation on Monday.
International status
“Ronaldo’s return to participate in this event reflects the high international status achieved by the conference.
“This is particularly highlighted with this year’s conference attracting football stars such as Ronaldo and Franck Ribery, who are both Ballon d’Or nominees,” said Al Kamali. Ronaldo is currently on a winter break from the Spanish La Liga. He has enjoyed a scintillating season for club and country, including scoring a hat-trick to help Portugal edge past Sweden in a play-off to reach the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. On Sunday, he scored in Real’s 3-2 win at Valencia, meaning there are now just three players in front of him in the Madrid side’s all-time goals list.
The Portuguese forward has scored 164 goals in 151 games matching Mexican forward Hugo Sanchez, who reached 164 in 207 games. Ronaldo now has only Santillana on 186 goals, Alfredo Di Stefano on 216 and Raul with 228 goals ahead of him.
—WAM/ Staff Report
