Looking back now on the recent Fifa congress in Switzerland, when football's ruling group lurched from one crisis to the next humiliation, it had faint echoes of watching English cricket in the early 1990s.
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Back then, an England player was guaranteed to be valued highly - so long as he was not actually in the team, suffering the same misfortunes as the rest of them.
In his absence, he could bask in the reflected failure of the woeful national side, and think all would be well if he was in the team. When he did get the call, that is when the problems started.
The same goes for all the other leading governing bodies in the world of sport. While the Fifa debacle was unfolding, they suddenly appeared to be faultless sages and paragons of best practice.
If they were of a cynical bent, they might have been looking upon Fifa and thinking, "We have never been that bad". Or perhaps it was, "I'm glad that is not us".
All it takes is one good ball, though. The International Cricket Council (ICC) required just one annual conference to be reminded this ruling the world malarkey is not as easy as it looks.
Their yearly pow-wow in Hong Kong last week would certainly not have registered a mark on the Fifa scale, but they still came up with some scandalously bad conclusions.
In particular, the U-turn over the make-up of their global events was a shocker. Only three months ago, it was all agreed that the 2015 World Cup would be open only to the 10 nations who have played Test cricket.
Clearly, that was totally wrong. Closing the shop would have been harsh on Ireland, who have provided most of the colour for the past two tournaments.
It would also have inhibited the rise of Afghanistan, the only other side from outside of the Test sphere who will likely be able to seriously challenge the bigger teams in four years time.
However, those sides should have been looking forward to earning their place - via a qualifying competition - in a shorter, more entertaining version of the World Cup with less teams and far fewer matches.
To continue on with the same format is stupid. True, the 2011 event was an improvement on the previous one.
But if the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies is ever to be regarded as a standard by which to measure a showpiece tournament, the game is doomed.
One victory can hide a multitude of ills. India's success in the World Cup final in Mumbai certainly stoked the biggest party in sport thus far this year.
Apparently, it also suddenly rendered cricket's whole, drawn out flagship competition as "highly successful", according to the ICC.
MS Dhoni's glorious exclamation mark, when he hit the winning six for the Indians, was the varnish which would allow the organisers to deem their tournament as being "universally acclaimed".
It was neither, but the fact the biggest matches were played in front of fervent crowds makes it easy to say it was.
So the next one will again be bloated, and in Australia and New Zealand the mismatches involving the little teams will be harder to hide.
The biggest problem with the decision to remain with 14 teams was the compromise.
While the governing body appeared to give with one had, by guaranteeing extra space for the developing nations in the 50 over flagship, it took away with the other, by cutting the World Twenty20 back from the proposed 16 teams to 12.
So the Associates find their wings clipped again. Sad as it is for them, the World Twenty20 remains the best multi-nation tournament in cricket.
Because, after all, a quick tournament is a good tournament.
pradley@thenational.ae
@ For more on the ICC, visit thenational.ae/topics
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
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Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Getting there
The flights
Flydubai operates up to seven flights a week to Helsinki. Return fares to Helsinki from Dubai start from Dh1,545 in Economy and Dh7,560 in Business Class.
The stay
Golden Crown Igloos in Levi offer stays from Dh1,215 per person per night for a superior igloo; www.leviniglut.net
Panorama Hotel in Levi is conveniently located at the top of Levi fell, a short walk from the gondola. Stays start from Dh292 per night based on two people sharing; www. golevi.fi/en/accommodation/hotel-levi-panorama
Arctic Treehouse Hotel in Rovaniemi offers stays from Dh1,379 per night based on two people sharing; www.arctictreehousehotel.com
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
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- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MATCH INFO
Chelsea 3 (Abraham 11', 17', 74')
Luton Town 1 (Clark 30')
Man of the match Abraham (Chelsea)
Zayed Sustainability Prize
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Celta Vigo 2
Castro (45'), Aspas (82')
Barcelona 2
Dembele (36'), Alcacer (64')
Red card: Sergi Roberto (Barcelona)
