NYON, Switzerland // Arsenal face Turkish side Besiktas and reprieved Celtic meet Slovenian title-holders Maribor in the Uefa Champions League play-offs later this month.
There was drama minutes before Friday’s draw in Nyon when Polish club Legia Warsaw, who had dished out a 6-1 third qualifying mauling to Celtic, were ruled out.
Legia were demoted to the Europa League play-offs for fielding an ineligible player.
Arsenal, meanwhile, must over overcome Besiktas to seal their 17th consecutive appearance in the Champions League group stages.
Last season the Gunners saw off another Turkish club, Fenerbahce, to go on to make it into the Last 16 where Arsene Wenger’s side, finalists in 2006, came a cropper against Bayern Munich.
In other match-ups, Lille take on 2004 winners FC Porto, Napoli come up against Athletic Bilbao and Bayer Leverkusen play FC Copenhagen.
The first leg ties are scheduled for August 19/20, with the second leg matches on August 26/27.
The ten winners will join the 22 teams automatically qualified for the group stage, which gets underway in September.
Draw for the European Champions League play-offs, staged in Nyon on Friday:
Champions Route
Maribor (SVN) v Celtic (SCO)
Salzburg (AUT) v Malmo (SWE)
Aalborg (DEN) v APOEL (CYP)
Steaua Bucharest (ROM) v Ludogorets (BUL)
Slovan Bratislava (SVK) v BATE (BLR)
League Route
Besiktas (TUR) v Arsenal (ENG)
Standard Liege (BEL) v Zenit St Petersburg (RUS)
FC Copenhagen (DEN) v Bayer Leverkusen(GER)
Lille (FRA) v FC Porto(POR)
Napoli (ITA) v Athletic Bilbao (ESP)
Play-offs
1st leg - August 19/20
2nd leg - August 26/27
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McIlroy's recent struggles
Last six stroke-play events (First round score in brackets)
Arnold Palmer Invitational Tied for 4th (74)
The US Masters Tied for 7th (72)
The Players Championship Tied for 35th (73)
US Open Missed the cut (78)
Travellers Championship Tied for 17th (67)
Irish Open Missed the cut (72)
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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.
