DUBAI // David Beckham, the England footballer, arrived in Dubai on Monday night as he prepared for his debut for AC Milan in a friendly with German club Hamburg SV.
Beckham was expected to arrive at Dubai International Airport's terminal three at 7.30pm with his wife Victoria and three sons Brooklyn, nine, Romeo, six, and Cruz, three.
But to the disappointment of a small group of fans, the former Manchester United player was ushered out of the airport without making a public appearance. It is unclear whether he was travelling alone or with his family. A spokesman for the organisers of the friendly match said Beckham was "tired".
Two English holidaymakers, Adam McKelvie and Nicola Finegan, clutching paper and a pen, were two of a handful of people who were at the airport and aware of Beckham's expected arrival time.
Mr McKelvie, a Manchester United fan, needed to get water to calm down when he heard Beckham would be coming.
"I'm so excited, my heart is jumping," Mr McKelvie said. "I'm a big Manchester United fan so he's a hero of mine. We're going home before the game but we'll be definitely going to watch them training tomorrow."
"I'm disappointed we didn't get to see him tonight but never mind. There's always tomorrow."
The 33-year-old footballer will make his debut for AC Milan on Jan 6 against Hamburg SV at the Emirates Stadium in Dubai.
Beckham, on loan to the Italian side by Los Angeles Galaxy, is believed to be at the centre of one of Dubai's biggest security operations.
Reports suggest roads will be sealed off around the training ground.
The Brazilian footballers Ronaldinho and Kaka arrived in Dubai at 9.15pm last night.
Italy's Gianluca Zambrotta and Filippo Inzaghi, Ukraine's Andriy Shevchenko, Dutch veteran Clarence Seedorf will also be joining them.
The team will be in Dubai for nine days, opening two training sessions up to the public at Al Nasr Club tonight between 5pm and 6.30pm and on Jan 2 between 9.30am and midday.
loatway@thenational.ae
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
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Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
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Transmission: Single-speed automatic
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
What are the influencer academy modules?
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Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
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
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
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Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
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Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net
Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.
Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.
A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.
Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.
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Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
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How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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
