Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has offered Saudia Arbian football club Al-Hilal players and team officials a bonus of $26,000 each if they can beat A-League side Western Sydney Wanderers and win the Asian Champions League this weekend, according to Mulvenney & Smith of REUTERS. The 13-time Saudi and two-time
Asian champions lost the first leg 1-0 in Sydney last weekend but "will
be in for a bumper payday if they can overturn the deficit at the King
Fahd Stadium on Saturday." Al Saud, who is worth $21.5B according to Forbes, made the offer of about
$26,650 a man "in a tweet just before last Saturday's first leg kicked
off" (REUTERS, 10/29). In Sydney, Dominic Bossi reported Al-Hilal fans have been given the "chance to sit alongside members of the Saudi royal family" after its VP Mohamad Al Hmaidani "gave away VIP tickets for the Asian Champions League final to reward their supporters' loyalty throughout a dry spell." He "handed out tickets
for some of the best seats as a form of compensation for the fans'
patience throughout their 14-year continental drought." With all "non-reserved tickets understood to have been sold a week before Saturday's crucial decider at King Fahd Stadium, Al-Hilal resorted to giving up some of their most prestigious seats for fans who missed out on tickets." It is not known "how many VIP tickets were given out to fans but the gesture comes after fans were left disgruntled after another free ticket distribution scheme was accused of providing tickets to fans of rival supporters" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 10/29).