Former Barcelona and Spain defender Gerard Pique says he is unsure if the European Super League will take off due to conflicting interests between the parties involved.
Barcelona were one of 12 clubs to sign up to form a breakaway European Super League in 2021.
The clubs faced a huge backlash from fans and their own domestic leagues and the venture collapsed within days.
Of the initial 12, only Barcelona and Real Madrid remain part of the breakaway league, and have led revived plans proposing a revamped 64-club league.
A Spanish court in May ruled that Uefa and Fifa, the ruling bodies that govern European and world football, were wrong to ban clubs from joining the European Super League.
“I don't know it's a tough one. I mean, there's a lot of politics involved, lot of owners of clubs that want one thing. Then there are the federations like Fifa, Uefa. Let's see what happens," Pique told The National.
"I mean, there is the thing of football is that everything is very fractured. That you have Fifa and you have Uefa and all these federations, and you have the league, that you have the club, that you have the players.
"So it's a lot of different layers, and all of them, they want different things, and their interests are not aligned, so it's difficult, really, to arrive to different kinds of deals and that everyone is compromised to do something together.
"So let's see. I don't think they will solve this in the short term. It's long-term decision, and let's see how they do it.”
Pique is in Abu Dhabi as part of the NBA Fan Appreciation Day where he will join fellow legends Iker Casillas, Roberto Carlos, Luis Figo, Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho to take part in a hybrid basketball-football 3x3 match dubbed 'Clash of the Legends'.
The concept coincides with two pre-season games between the NBA champions the Boston Celtics, and the team they deposed, the Denver Nuggets at the Etihad Arena on Yas Island. Boston won the first game on Friday night.
While fans in Abu Dhabi get to witness some of the best players to grace the game in action, a former teammate of Pique's will soon bring down the curtain on his own playing career.
Andres Iniesta, a midfield stalwart for Barcelona and Spain who played last season in the UAE with Emirates Club, is widely expected to announce his retirement from playing on Tuesday at the age of 40.
Pique, who ended his career in 2022, played alongside Iniesta for many years at Barcelona, winning multiple trophies including seven La Liga titles, six Copa del Reys and three Uefa Champions League trophies.
In the national team, the two helped form the backbone of a Spain team that won the World Cup in 2010 and the European Championship two years later.
"Well, let's see. I mean, I think the event is next Tuesday. I'm going there. So let's see what he has to announce because it's not official what he wants to say, but yeah, he's done a hell of a career," Pique said when asked about Iniesta's expected announcement.
"I think that he's been more than 20 years playing at the high level. He has won so many trophies, a lot of them with me and a bunch of players at Barca. And I'm very proud to be part of that generation."
Barcelona top La Liga standings headed into the weekend's fixtures, three points ahead of bitter rivals Real Madrid.
Their perfect start of seven wins in as many games was brought to a halt last week with a 4-2 defeat at Osasuna, but the team are showing encouraging signs under new manager Hansi Flick and are tipped to challenge Madrid all the way this term.
Madrid won the league at a canter last season, finishing 10 points ahead of Barca as well as winning a record-extending 15th European Cup.
They strengthened their squad further in the summer, most notably with the signing of French forward Kylian Mbappe, but Pique, who played for Barcelona across two spells, believes his former club are well placed to close the gap on their rivals.
"I hope so. I think that they have a good team to challenge them. It's true that Madrid have signed Mbappe and on paper they’re the favourite. But you never know in football. At the moment, they had a very good start, so hopefully we can, we can win the title again.”
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Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
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As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
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Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
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