El Clásico Miami, the "highly-anticipated July 29 match" between Real Madrid and Barcelona at Hard Rock Stadium, "will be preceded by five days of festivities in downtown Miami and Miami Beach." The week before the game "is shaping up to be like a Super Bowl of soccer," with concerts, parties, art exhibits, and a fan festival similar to the NFL Experience during Super Bowl Week. Unlike the game itself, with "many tickets exceeding $1,000," the Bayfront Park events "are free to the public." More than 80% of the tickets for the match have been sold, and 75% of the ticket buyers are from outside of Florida (MIAMI HERALD, 6/27).
The Pakistan Cricket Board is hoping the Sri Lankan cricket team "will tour the country" for one day internationals and Twenty20 matches near the end of this year. Talks over a possible series are reportedly ongoing "but nothing is official as yet." An unnamed official said, "Our Sri Lankan counterparts have expressed willingness in sending their team to Pakistan as the security situation is improving in the country" (APP, 6/29).
China "pulled its entire men's table tennis team -- including the three top-ranked players" -- from next week's Australian Open "due to a rare public spat that boiled over" after the removal of head coach Liu Guoliang last week (REUTERS, 6/29).
