First Ever Supercoppa Italiana Semi-Final Played In Front Of 15,000 Empty Seats In Saudi Arabia

Three previous finals have been held in Saudi Arabia.

The 2018 final, which saw Cristiano Ronaldo fire Juventus to a 1-0 win over AC Milan, was witnessed by 61,235 fans in Jeddah.

Last year's final was played in front of a crowd of 51,357 at Riyadh's King Fahd Sports City.

The low attendance at Thursday's semi-final could be linked to timing.

It came less than a week after Real Madrid and Barcelona had clashed in the final of Spain's four-team Supercopa de Espana, which was also staged in Saudi Arabia.

Real and Barca are much more popular in the Middle East than any of Italy's top teams, especially since Ronaldo left Juventus in 2021.

Ronaldo now plays his club soccer at Riyadh's Al-Awwal Park for local side Al Nassr.

The likes of Karim Benzema, Sadio Mane and Riyad Mahrez also play in the Saudi Pro League following last summer's nationwide recruitment drive.

Therefore, Saudi fans can now watch elite soccer stars in action every week, making European roadshows like the Supercoppa Italiana much less special.

The Supercoppa Italiana was launched back in 1988 and it first went on tour in 1993 when it came to RFK Stadium in Washington.

It has since been held in Tripoli, New Jersey, Beijing, Shanghai and Doha, as well as at multiple venues across Italy and, more recently, Saudi Arabia.

Although Thursday's evidence could suggest that a new host nation may be needed to freshen up the event, Saudi Arabia has already signed up to stage the tournament in 2026 and 2027.