Bale Becomes Playable Character in Golf Video Game

Golf - European Tour - BMW PGA Championship - Wentworth, Virginia Water, Britain - September 14, 2023 Former footballer Gareth Bale is seen during the first round Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs/file photo Acquire Licensing Rights
Golf - European Tour - BMW PGA Championship - Wentworth, Virginia Water, Britain - September 14, 2023 Former footballer Gareth Bale is seen during the first round Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs/file photo Acquire Licensing Rights
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Bale Becomes Playable Character in Golf Video Game

Golf - European Tour - BMW PGA Championship - Wentworth, Virginia Water, Britain - September 14, 2023 Former footballer Gareth Bale is seen during the first round Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs/file photo Acquire Licensing Rights
Golf - European Tour - BMW PGA Championship - Wentworth, Virginia Water, Britain - September 14, 2023 Former footballer Gareth Bale is seen during the first round Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs/file photo Acquire Licensing Rights

Gareth Bale's love for golf has been well-documented and the former Real Madrid and Wales forward has swapped the pitch for the green after becoming a playable character in the PGA Tour 2K23 video game.

Bale, 34, made his PGA Tour debut at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February after calling time on his glittering soccer career at the start of the year. He also teed off alongside Rory McIlroy at this week's BMW PGA Championship Celebrity Pro-Am.

His passion for the sport often led to criticism while he was in Madrid, especially in 2019 after he celebrated with a Welsh flag which read: "Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order."

The former Wales captain, who featured on the cover of Electronic Arts' FIFA 14 video game alongside Lionel Messi, has now been added to PGA Tour 2K23, which includes a course custom-designed by him.

"I'm Gareth Bale. I'm here getting scanned in PGA Tour 2K23," he said in a video shared on social media, Reuters reported

Bale played for Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur before joining Real in 2013 for a then-world record deal worth 100 million euros ($106.55 million), where he won five Champions League titles among several other major honours.

He led Wales to the Euro 2016 semi-finals and to their first World Cup since 1958 at last year's tournament in Qatar. Bale's tally of 111 caps and 41 international goals are both records for the Wales men's team.



Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony: Saudi Team Highlights Cultural Heritage

Saudi athletes wave their country’s flag during the opening parade. (Saudi Olympic Committee)
Saudi athletes wave their country’s flag during the opening parade. (Saudi Olympic Committee)
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Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony: Saudi Team Highlights Cultural Heritage

Saudi athletes wave their country’s flag during the opening parade. (Saudi Olympic Committee)
Saudi athletes wave their country’s flag during the opening parade. (Saudi Olympic Committee)

Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, Chairman of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and his deputy, Prince Fahd bin Jalawi bin Abdulaziz, attended the opening ceremony of the 33rd Olympic Games in Paris.

Held outside the traditional stadiums for the first time in history, the ceremony featured a parade of the 206 participating countries on 100 boats traveling approximately 6 kilometers along the Seine River.

The Saudi show jumping team player, Ramzy Al-Duhami, and his colleague, the Saudi Taekwondo champion Dunya Aboutaleb, raised the Saudi flag at the opening of the world’s largest sporting event.

Al-Duhami expressed his pride in raising the Kingdom’s flag alongside his teammate, noting that it was a dream for any Saudi citizen. He wished success for the Saudi athletes in representing Saudi sports with distinction.

Aboutaleb, in turn, said he was honored to carry the Kingdom’s flag at the Olympic Games, stating: “I aspire to perform at a level that reflects the support and attention given to sports in the Kingdom.”

The Saudi athletes’ uniform was admired by the international media and the audience, who applauded the players the moment their boat appeared on the Seine River.

The designs for the opening ceremony were chosen through a national competition organized by the Saudi Arabian Olympic and Paralympic Committee, with the participation of designers from across the Kingdom.

Out of 128 competing designers, the chosen uniform by Saudi designer Alia Al-Salmi featured traditional men’s thobes and bishts and brightly patterned thobe al-nashal for women, symbolizing the athletes’ pride in their homeland and cultural roots.

Mashael Al-Ayed, 17, will be the first Saudi athlete to compete, taking to the pool for the 200 meters freestyle swimming event on July 28. Al-Ayed is the first female swimmer to represent Saudi Arabia at the Olympics.