World leaders, celebrities, family, friends and 30,000 members of the public are set to flock to Louisville Kentucky on Friday (10 June) for the funeral of former boxing world heavyweight champion and sporting icon Muhammad Ali.

Reuters reported that US President Bill Clinton and sitting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan would be among the world leaders attending the public events in Ali's hometown.

Over 30,000 tickets will be distributed to the public for public memorials that will be held in Louisville's sport's arena.

A private ceremony on Thursday (9 June) will precede the public events, followed by an Islamic service for the public at Freedom Hall, the site of Ali's last professional fight in Louisville. On Friday, Ali's family will gather for prayers, to be followed by the funeral procession.

The actor Will Smith, who played the boxing legend 2001, and Lennox Lewis, who like Ali held the world heavyweight title three times, will be among the pallbearers on Friday.

Bill Clinton and comedy actor Billy Crystal will deliver eulogies for Ali at Louisville's KFC Yum! Center on Friday afternoon, the largest public event to mark Mohammed Ali's death.

Muhammad Ali (formerly known as Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr) passed away on 3 June at a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona after battling respiratory problems. He had been suffering from Parkinson's disease, which had grown more advanced in recent years.

However the Olympic gold medallist continued to hit out in the social arena, standing up against attacks on Muslims, supporting the black community and various other humanitarian issues.