Rooney is going to earn 500k in A:3k Skills Challenge

Wayne Rooney will pick up a amazing £500,000 for one night's work - just six days after the World Cup final.
As Mirror Sport exposed yesterday, Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo have been lined up to take part in a Gladiators-style contest at London's O2 Arena to decide the world's most skilful footballer.
See the ring of fire where Ronaldo, Rooney, Fabregas, Drogba, Gerrard and more will test their skills - exclusive picture special
Last night organisers announced Cesc Fabregas, Steven Gerrard, David Villa and Didier Drogba will feature at the inaugural A:3K Football event on July 17.

Arena 3K - Six football Players will test their skills

This is the ring of fire where the Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney will stage their epic shoot-out.

In an arena worthy of the original TV Gladiators, or even the assault-course drama of Total Wipeout, six of the world's best players will compete in the ultimate test of power, control and accuracy.

Rooney will earn £500k for one night's work in A:3K skills challenge

Rooney, Ronaldo, Steven Gerrard, Didier Drogba, Cesc Febregas and David Villa will go head-to-head beneath the wigwam of London's O2 Arena for the right to be crowned inaugural A:3K champion on July 17.

Drogba and Fabregas will star in O2 spectacular

THE idea of Wayne Rooney and Didier Drogba "playing the O2" sounds as daft as Lady GaGa turning out for Arsenal.
Thankfully they will be doing what they do best - showing off their amazing abilities with a ball.

But it won't be like any match seen before.

The footie stars will battle it out in a tournament testing their skills in front of a huge live audience and millions of TV viewers.

Called A:3K - which stands for Arena 3000 - the event involves five "gladiatorial" soccer challenges which will be staged on a black pitch against the backdrop of a hi-tech set, above.


Arsenal midfielder Fabregas, 22, said: "It is a very good opportunity to play individually against some of the best players in the world."

To gauge their precision the six players will be put on platforms and shoot at targets.

Finally, in the attack round, they will play on a circular pitch and each have a goal to protect.

There will be two balls and the players will get points for scoring goals and lose points for conceding.


Gerrard and Rooney are two of England's great hopes, Drogba will play for Ivory Coast, Fabregas and Villa both turn out for Spain and Ronaldo is Portugal's star name.

Villa, 28, who plays for Spanish side Valencia, said: "A:3K is going to bring together some of the best players in the world."

Arena 3k : which player is the most skilful.

THE idea of Wayne Rooney and Didier Drogba "playing the O2" sounds as daft as Lady GaGa turning out for Arsenal.
But the Man United and Chelsea superstars have agreed to make their rock arena debut just one week after the World Cup - alongside fellow Premier League aces Steven Gerrard and Cesc Fabregas, Spaniard David Villa and Real Madrid's £80million man Cristiano Ronaldo.

Thankfully they will be doing what they do best - showing off their amazing abilities with a ball.

But it won't be like any match seen before.

The footie stars will battle it out in a tournament testing their skills in front of a huge live audience and millions of TV viewers.

Called A:3K - which stands for Arena 3000 - the event involves five "gladiatorial" soccer challenges which will be staged on a black pitch against the backdrop of a hi-tech set, above.

The aim is to determine which player is the most skilful.

Arena 3k Venues and Tickets

It’s not just that. The format is quite unique. It’s set in a futuristic black Astroturf surfaced arena and there are added special effects, lasers and audio. The man in-charge of combining technology and theatre is the world famous lighting and production designer, Marc Brickman.

There will be 15,000 tickets available for this football experience on the 17th July, 2010 at the O2. Presale ticketing will be available exclusively through O2 priority tickets and general release sales are available now. ITV1 will televise the event exclusively in the UK

A:3K Football Champion

On 17th July, 2010 at the O2 Arena, A:3K will bring six of the world’s greatest footballers to finish and be the first A:3K Football Champion. A:3K have assembled over £300 million (transfer value) of global football talent to compete in a series of gladiatorial games of skill.

They have confirmed that Cesc Fabregas, Steven Gerrard, Didier Drogba and David Villa will make up the exclusive line-up – two more players will be joined soon.

The players will be pushed to their limits to expose their raw talent all by themselves with no team-mates or manager to turn to. They will finish head to head in a series of skill-based challenges. Their technique and their nerves will be put on a test like never before. The challenges they will face are:

A:3K Power

A:3K Precision

A:3K Curve

A:3K Control

A:3K Attack

Arena 3K Football Picture Gallery