More than 30,000 tickets will be distributed to the public for the two memorials scheduled for Thursday and Friday in sports arenas in Ali’s home town of Louisville, Kentucky, Ali family spokesman Bob Gunnell said.
Mourners who cannot get tickets will be able to watch a funeral procession that will drive Ali’s remains through Louisville, including along a boulevard bearing his name, to the Cave Hill Cemetery.
Ali and his family had planned his funeral for a decade.
Information about securing tickets for an Islamic prayer service on Thursday at Freedom Hall arena and an interfaith service at KFC Yum! Center on Friday is expected to be announced on Monday at 5:30 p.m. EDT (2130 GMT). The Friday event will also be streamed live.
“The pallbearers will be Will Smith, the actor who portrayed Ali in the movie “Ali” and close family friend, John Grady, Muhammad Ali’s cousin, Ibn Ali, Muhammad Ali’s nephew, Komavi Ali, Ali’s former brother-in-law, Jerry Ellis, brother of Jimmy Ellis. Jimmy was Muhammad’s former sparring partner and former heavyweight champion of the World. Lennox Lewis, former heavyweight champion of the world, Jan Wadell, Muhammad Ali’s first cousin and John Ramsey, Muhammad Ali’s family friend,” Ali family spokesperson Bob Gunnel said.
Ali, who joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name from Cassius Clay in 1964, was a hero for many Muslims in the United States and around the world.
In addition to the two public services, a private service for Ali’s family and closer friends is scheduled for Friday morning, before the funeral procession.
The boxing great died on Friday in Arizona at age 74 of septic shock. He had suffered for years from Parkinson’s syndrome. His body was flown to Louisville on Sunday.
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