A picture shows the newly opened Madame Tussauds museum in Dubai.—AFP photos

London's renowned waxwork museum Madame Tussauds opened this week its first outpost in the Arab world in Dubai, which hopes to attract millions of tourists to Expo 2020. The brand, which began life in London where it boasts 250 wax sculptures that draw millions of visitors annually, also has smaller branches in the United States, Europe and Asia. "We have opened our doors on the 14th of October this year very close to Expo 2020," Sanaz Kollsrud, general manager of Dubai's Madame Tussauds, told AFP. "We expect many visitors locally and internationally to come in. "We have chosen the talents that are relevant and popular in the region."

The Dubai branch displayed 60 sculptures of "global stars", including football sensation Lionel Messi and pop singer Rihanna. And about 15 were from the region including Lebanese pop stars Nancy Ajram and Maya Diab. With only limited oil reserves, the emirate of Dubai has been focusing on the development of tourism and the entertainment sector. Dubai is counting on the six-month Expo 2020 Dubai-which opened on October 1 after a one-year delay-to attract millions of visitors and boost its pandemic-hit economy.

A waxwork of US actor Tom Cruise.

A waxwork of Indian cricket player Virat Kohli.

A waxwork of Barbadian singer Rhianna.

Ronaldo wearing 'wrong' shirt

The Dubai branch said yesterday it will soon change the shirt of the wax figure of Cristiano Ronaldo after online backlash that the Portuguese footballer was wearing the "wrong" jersey. London's renowned waxwork museum opened this week with Ronaldo's wax figure donning the striped black and white shirt of his previous team, Italy's Juventus. In August, Ronaldo returned to Manchester United in the English Premier League on a two-year contract with an option to extend that deal by a further season.

"With the ever-changing, fast world of sports where players regularly move teams, fans of Cristiano Ronaldo will be excited to hear that his wax figure is being updated with his new Manchester United jersey very soon," the museum said in a statement to AFP. "Each figure at the attraction has been captured in a moment of time and resembles an iconic part in their history."

A number of British and Portuguese online media outlets had noted that the 36-year-old star footballer at the museum was wearing the "wrong shirt" of Juventus, which Ronaldo left after three seasons. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner first made his name on the world stage in six years at United between 2003 and 2009. - AFP