Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos and Ryan Giggs to be paid huge sums to play in Pakistan

Karachi: A deluge of former international football stars including Brazilians Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos along with Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs are being paid hefty amounts between $300,000 to $600,000 to play a couple of exhibition matches in Pakistan. Along with them, some of the other big stars, who will be joining are Nicolas Anelka, Robert Pires, David James, George Boateng and Luis Boa Morte. [caption id=“attachment_3787727” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Former FC Barcelona player Ronaldinho will be the biggest attraction for the Pakistan crowd. AP[/caption] The players arrived in Karachi early on Saturday morning on a private jet manned by the Pakistan military. The two exhibition matches will be held in Karachi and Lahore under the auspices of the Leisure Leagues and World Group who claim they want to promote the sport in Pakistan. According to a report in the News International, the leisure league is paying Ronaldinho around $600,000 for the short visit while the other players are getting paid between $300,000 and $400,000. Interestingly, the Pakistani players who will play alongside the international stars of the exhibition games, have complained that they have not been promised any payments from the organizers for the matches. The organizers are selling tickets for the exhibition matches priced between 2000 and 30,000 Pakistani rupees. Due to the devastating effects of terrorist attacks in Pakistan for the last one-decade, international teams and players have refrained from coming to Pakistan due to security concerns.