Muhammad Ali funeral: Funeral ‘conducted in Muslim tradition’ and streamed online to be held in Louisville
Events will be held all week across the city.
Muhammad Ali’s funeral will be held in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky on Friday.
All 15,000 free tickets to the legendary boxer’s memorial service were given away in nearly one hour on Wednesday morning. The service will be streamed on Muhammad Ali’s website and the KFC Yum! Center's jumbotron.
Thousands of people stood in line outside the center in downtown Louisville since 6am this morning, WDRB in Louisville reports, speakers at the event include former President Bill Clinton, actor Billy Crystal and Ali’s wife Lonnie. President Barack Obama will not attend the service as he attends his daughter’s graduation, but will be represented by his senior advisor Valerie Jarrett.
Bob Gunnell, a family spokesman, said that Ali had been planning the details of his own funeral for years, and that he expressed it was important his memorials be conducted in Muslim tradition.
"This began with The Champ a decade ago," Gunnell told reporters on Tuesday night. "As he convened the meeting, he said, 'This is what I would like to see, this is the type of program that I would like to see, that is inclusive of everyone, where we give as many people an opportunity that want to pay their respects to me.’"
It was previously reported that actor Will Smith and former boxing champion Lennox Lewis would be as pall-bearers during the service.
The scheduled events across the city of Louisville include an arts festival on Wednesday, an Islamic funeral program on Thursday, and a public funeral procession with a private burial service on Friday.