Saudi official confirms request to increase Wembley capacity for Joshua-Dubois

An increase in capacity at Wembley Stadium has been requested for Anthony Joshua’s bout with Daniel Dubois next month.

Turki Al-Sheikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, Turki Al-Sheikh, stated in a post on X that a request has been made to extend the capacity due to a high demand for tickets.

It was reposted by Joshua, who will meet Dubois on September 21 at Wembley in a battle for the vacant IBF heavyweight belt.

Al-Sheikh wrote: “Due to high tickets demand… We’ve requested to extend the capacity at Wembley Stadium for the highly anticipated bout between Joshua and Dubois at #RiyadhSeasonCard Wembley Edition.

“We hope to set a record for the largest attendance in boxing history at Wembley Stadium.”

Next month’s fight was confirmed in June following Oleksandr Usyk’s announcement that he would vacate the IBF heavyweight title.

The Ukrainian became undisputed world heavyweight champion after defeating Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia in May, but was set to be stripped of the IBF belt after the body stipulated he must face mandatory challenger Dubois.

It paved the way for a meeting to be set up between British duo Dubois and Joshua.

An eighth-round stoppage saw Dubois beat Filip Hrgovic to become interim IBF champion in June, while Joshua has won his last four fights and defeated Francis Ngannou in his last outing.