Cristiano Ronaldo has made a surprise appearance at a museum in Tsim Sha Tsui dedicated to honouring his career during his visit to Hong Kong for the Saudi Super Cup, with fans waiting for hours outside the venue to catch a glimpse of the football legend.
A South China Morning Post reporter saw Ronaldo arriving at the CR7 Life Museum in the K11 Musea shopping centre at 8.30pm on Sunday, with fans crowding the entrance and cheering as they spotted him touring the venue.
The star player briefly stepped out and appeared ready to sign jerseys handed to him, but shook his head and retreated after some fans pushed at the barricade. He left about half an hour later.
The museum was launched last month to celebrate the football superstar’s career.
Dozens of fans arrived as early as 1pm, as rumours of his appearance swirled online. They included a Jiangxi visitor, who only identified himself as Gan. He said he had come to Hong Kong for the Saudi Cup and would stay until the finals on Saturday.
“If we get to see him, that would be even better, but if not, there’s nothing we can do. They never said for sure that he would come ... unlike Messi the last time, when everyone said he was going to play but he didn’t in the end,” he said.
Couple Dong Ruiyu and Li Yue from Hebei province were also among the crowd. They said they arrived in Hong Kong the day before for the Saudi Cup.
“We came specifically to see Ronaldo,” Dong said. “It would be very lucky if we could really run into him.
The pair had a daily budget of about HK$800 (US$102) to HK$1,000 for their expenses, which primarily covered accommodation and food.
The city will host the Saudi Super Cup from Tuesday to Saturday at the Hong Kong Stadium. Four clubs – Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad, Al-Qadisiyah, and Al-Ahli – will play at the event, the first time the Cup has been held in East Asia.
Simon Wong Ka-wo, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, expected catering businesses in the neighbourhood of the stadium to rise by 20 to 30 per cent with the help of the Saudi Super Cup, which he believed would draw visitors from both home and abroad.
“It’s great to have major events like this being held at the Hong Kong Stadium because the foot traffic at Causeway Bay and Wan Chai was impacted by the opening of Kai Tak Stadium,” he said.
“With Cristiano Ronaldo coming to play in Hong Kong, we expect businesses to be even better than what we had during the usual sports events.”
K11 said its various sports-themed events this summer – including Ronaldo’s museum, pop-up stores and a meet-and-greet with Arsenal football club players – had led to an increased footfall of 30 per cent for the shopping centre in July compared with the monthly average for the rest of the year.
“Meanwhile, with new brand openings and shopping privileges, visitor spending has surged, leading to over a 20 per cent year-on-year increase in sales from major international luxury brands,” a K11 spokesman said.
