The 31st edition of the Italian Super Cup will take place on Wednesday between Juventus and AC Milan, with both sides looking to add to their record seven wins apiece. It will be the tenth time the Super Cup has taken place outside of Italy, but the first time that Saudi Arabia has hosted the game.
KING ABDULLAH SPORTS CITY
Saudi Arabia’s second city after Riyadh, Jeddah is home to around three million inhabitants and stands on the shores of the Red Sea. King Abdullah Sports City, the venue for the Italian Super Cup on Wednesday, was opened on 1 May 2014 with a huge ceremony, followed by a match between Jeddah’s Al-Ahli and Riyadh’s Al-Shabab.
Situated around 50 kilometres north of Jeddah, King Abdullah Sports City holds around 60,000 spectators and is used for matches of both Al-Ittihad FC and Al-Ahli SC. As the name suggests, the stadium is a huge complex encompassing the Grand Plaza, a multi-sports indoor venue with a capacity of over 10,000 and many other facilities including an auditorium, tennis courts and an open-air athletics stadium.
The design of the King Abdullah Sports City is inspired by modern architecture but also takes influence from traditional Arabic and Islamic features.
In total, over 2.3 million spectators have attended sports events at King Abdullah Sports City, including football, athletics, basketball, water-based sports, volleyball, horse-riding, weight-lifting, martial arts and handball.