Inter Miami to Participate in Riyadh Season Cup

Riyadh Season logo.
Riyadh Season logo.
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Inter Miami to Participate in Riyadh Season Cup

Riyadh Season logo.
Riyadh Season logo.

The Riyadh Season has announced that it has inked an agreement with Inter Miami CF to participate in the Riyadh Season Cup, SPA said on Tuesday.
The tournament, which will be held during the first week of February 2024 at the Kingdom Arena, will see Al- Nassr, Al-Hilal and Inter Miami CF playing in a league setup.
The mini tournament is part of the fourth annual Riyadh Season.
The tournament will be exceptional, with the participation of Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr and Inter Miami's Lionel Messi, who will face off in a thrilling match dubbed "The Last Dance." Al-Hilal also has superstars, including Best Footballer in Asia Salem Al-Dawsari and Aleksandar Mitrović.
Chairman of the Board of Directors of General Entertainment Authority Advisor Turki Al AL-Sheikh welcomed Inter Miami, noting that the tournament will make headlines and will attract the world’s attention given the superstars participating.
He also said that the tournament is in continuation of the mega global events organized during the Riyadh Season.



Workers Take Down Olympic Rings from Eiffel Tower – for Now

Tourists sit on the Olympic rings displayed in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP)
Tourists sit on the Olympic rings displayed in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP)
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Workers Take Down Olympic Rings from Eiffel Tower – for Now

Tourists sit on the Olympic rings displayed in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP)
Tourists sit on the Olympic rings displayed in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP)

Workers removed the Olympics logo from the Eiffel Tower in the early hours of Friday, returning the beloved monument to its familiar form -- but perhaps only temporarily.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has promised to build new Olympic rings and return them to the landmark as a tribute to the hugely successful Olympic Games held in the capital during July and August.

The proposal has polarized opinion in the French capital and has been criticized by descendants of the tower's designer Gustave Eiffel, as well as conservation groups.

After initially suggesting the new rings should be permanent, Hidalgo has proposed they remain on the city's world-renowned symbol until the next Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.

Workers operating multiple large cranes removed the 30-tonne steel rings from between the first and second floors of the tower during the early hours of Friday morning.

They were first installed just under four months ago, on June 7, and will now be melted down and recycled.

The new rings, which the International Olympic Committee is expected to pay for, would be lighter versions of the originals and less prominent, according to a deputy Paris mayor, Pierre Rabadan.

"In my opinion, it would be better to put them somewhere else because it's a Parisian monument and it's not right that it becomes an advertising medium for an event that is now over," Hugo Staub, a French tourist at the tower on Friday, told AFP.

Culture Minister Rachida Dati, a longtime critic and opponent of Hidalgo, has also cast doubt over the idea, saying the mayor's proposal would need to respect procedures protecting historic buildings.

But others felt regret at losing a visual reminder of an enchanted period in Paris and expressed support for the idea of replacements.

"They were a bit large so it's better to put small ones that can remain for a few years," said Gabriel, a French volunteer at the Games, who was at the foot of the tower on Friday. "It would be symbolic and a great souvenir."