PSG to play Saudi Arabia All-Star XI on Jan. 19, face Cristiano Ronaldo

PSG will travel to Doha and Riyadh on Jan. 18 and Jan. 19, the club officially announced on Monday morning.

A few days ago, CBS journalist Ben Jacobs informed us of the plans being put together by PSG for their winter trip to Saudi Arabia. Now, Paris Saint-Germain have made the official announcement confirming the trip and the friendly game to be played away from France.

PSG will use this opportunity "to meet their Qatari and MENA supporters" as well as to "train in the iconic Khalifa Stadium" and "take part in a series of activities organized by the club's partners," says the official statement.

The squad will onboard a plane next Jan. 17 on their way to Doha, then travel to Riyadh (KSA) to play against an All-Star XI featuring players from both Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr. That means Cristiano Ronaldo could play for the first time as an Al-Nassr player in the friendly against PSG.

The match against the All-Star XI will be held at King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh on Jan. 19. PSG will fly back after the game to Paris, with the French Cup Round of 32 game expected to be played four days after that, on Jan. 23.

PSG will play a friendly against an All-Star XI with Cristiano Ronaldo expected to make his debut

PSG have also announced the friendly game will be broadcast on PSG TV, PSG social media, and beIN Sports network.

According to Jacobs, PSG are "under the obligation" of reporting for the match without any possibility of canceling it. "PSG are contractually obliged to play the fixture," against the All-Star XI, wrote Jacobs on his Twitter account a few days ago.

This obligation arises from the fact that beIN Sports has non-exclusive rights in MENA and exclusive broadcasting rights in France. This was confirmed in the club's official note published on Monday.

PSG "don't plan to stay in Saudi Arabia for long," reported Jacobs. That was also confirmed by the club, as they confirmed they will be flying back to France immediately after the friendly is over.

This seemingly comes as retaliation from the QSI group (read: Qatar) "after 42 World Cup games were blocked by Saudi Arabia on beIN's streaming service," reports Jacobs. "beIN (and thus PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi) unhappy with the situation."