WELLINGTON, New Zealand // The weather forecast for the seven-week Rugby World Cup is "unsettled". A week from the opening match, the outlook for the tournament itself is murky, too.
As the 20 teams arrive, fanning out to bases around New Zealand, questions remain about how the nation of four million will cope with staging an event billed as the fourth most-watched in world sport.
New Zealand expects to receive as many as 95,000 international visitors during the World Cup and is counting on the event to help its fragile economy recover from the effects of a global recession and devastating earthquakes that killed 181 people in the southern city of Christchurch.
New Zealand desperately needs the World Cup to succeed and organisers are confident the tournament will be the showpiece rugby expects, but a week from the start, there are still muted concerns.
Of the targeted ticket sales, 170,000 seats remain unsold. Organisers remain confident the pace of sales will increase in the week before the opening match, and say the experience of other major sports events is that demand becomes greatest when the games begin.
But Mike Miller, the International Rugby Board (IRB) chief executive, chided New Zealanders, for being slow to support the World Cup.
"My main concern is that you're not going to get [the] Rugby World Cup back here for a long time," Miller said. "There are lots of countries around the world that want to host the Rugby World Cup, so people should take advantage of it while it's here."
New Zealanders have expressed concern that, for several reasons, they have been unable to participate in the World Cup as fully as they would have liked. Ticket prices start at around NZ$25 (Dh78) for pool matches but rise to $402 for prime seats at quarter-finals, $650 for semi-finals and $1,050 for the final at the 60,000-seated Eden Park.
The average wage in New Zealand is about $42,500, pricing prime tickets beyond the reach of most Kiwis. High hotel prices also have discouraged many from travelling to the games.
Organisers have counted on New Zealand's nearest neighbour, Australia, to provide the largest share of visitors, but travel agents say, despite extensive marketing campaigns, Australians are wary.
Michael Jones, the general manager of Australia's Total Sports Travel, said high hotel prices had deterred many Australians.
"People do question that they feel it's overpriced because most Australians have been to New Zealand at some time or another and at normal times they can go for a lot cheaper," Jones told the New Zealand Herald. "The hotels haven't been exactly kind in some of their rates. There's been a lot of greed. Not in all cases, but there have been some examples of price-gouging, so to speak."
A New Zealand Herald survey in June showed Auckland hotels would be charging, on average, three times their usual rates for a room during finals weekend, though some rooms were being let at up to 15 times normal rates.
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Salah in numbers
€39 million: Liverpool agreed a fee, including add-ons, in the region of €39m (nearly Dh176m) to sign Salah from Roma last year. The exchange rate at the time meant that cost the Reds £34.3m - a bargain given his performances since.
13: The 25-year-old player was not a complete stranger to the Premier League when he arrived at Liverpool this summer. However, during his previous stint at Chelsea, he made just 13 Premier League appearances, seven of which were off the bench, and scored only twice.
57: It was in the 57th minute of his Liverpool bow when Salah opened his account for the Reds in the 3-3 draw with Watford back in August. The Egyptian prodded the ball over the line from close range after latching onto Roberto Firmino's attempted lob.
7: Salah's best scoring streak of the season occurred between an FA Cup tie against West Brom on January 27 and a Premier League win over Newcastle on March 3. He scored for seven games running in all competitions and struck twice against Tottenham.
3: This season Salah became the first player in Premier League history to win the player of the month award three times during a term. He was voted as the division's best player in November, February and March.
40: Salah joined Roger Hunt and Ian Rush as the only players in Liverpool's history to have scored 40 times in a single season when he headed home against Bournemouth at Anfield earlier this month.
30: The goal against Bournemouth ensured the Egyptian achieved another milestone in becoming the first African player to score 30 times across one Premier League campaign.
8: As well as his fine form in England, Salah has also scored eight times in the tournament phase of this season's Champions League. Only Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, with 15 to his credit, has found the net more often in the group stages and knockout rounds of Europe's premier club competition.
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'Panga'
Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha, Jassie Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Neena Gupta
Rating: 3.5/5
THE SPECS
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Transmission: seven-speed dual clutch automatic
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
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