ZURICH // As Qatar and the rest of the 2022 World Cup bidding nations made their final presentations last night, a last day of frantic canvassing was under way for the 2018 candidates.
With Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, opting out of helping his country's bid, it was left to other leaders, princes and football greats to attempt to sway voters.
Qatar, Australia, Japan, South Korea and the United States all made final 30-minute presentations to the 22 members of Fifa's executive committee. They must now wait until at least 7pm today to find out if their 2022 bid has been successful.
Meanwhile, Russia, England, Spain/Portugal and Belgium/Netherlands, vying for the 2018 World Cup, make their presentations this afternoon.
Putin chose not fly to Zurich, saying he did not want to be involved in "unfair competition". He said there has been a campaign to smear the members of the Fifa executive committee.
It is a move thought to have damaged Russia's position as favourites, though it could still count on Roman Abramovich, Chelsea's billionaire owner, Andrei Arshavin, the Arsenal forward, and Anna Netrebko, the opera diva.
In the build-up to the vote, a British newspaper sting led to the expulsion of two Fifa executive committee members and a BBC documentary accused others of taking secret payments from the organisation's former marketing partner.
Cristiano Ronaldo, the Real Madrid star, was not able to help with the Spain/Portugal presentation either, because of an ankle injury, but they had Eusebio, the Portugal legend, in Zurich.
England's bid was bolstered by David Cameron, the prime minister, Prince William and David Beckham.
Beckham, who helped in London's successful bid for the 2012 Olympics, said: "The last 24 hours can be the most important without a doubt. I think the momentum is out there now, people have focused on the negative and we now are focused on the positive."
Key questions about how the voting works
Football fans around the globe will learn today where the 2018 and 2022 World Cups will be held
Who is bidding?
There are four bids for the 2018 World Cup and five for the 2022 tournament - nine bids in all representing a total of 11 countries.
2018: England, Netherlands/Belgium (joint bid), Russia, Spain/Portugal (joint bid)
2022: Australia, Japan, Qatar, South Korea, United States.
What is at stake?
At stake is the right to stage the next two available football World Cup tournaments, month-long extravaganzas that make the host nations the centre of the world's attention, while attracting television audiences measured in billions. The successful bidders for 2018 will follow Brazil, who will stage the competition in 2014, and South Africa, this year's host.
How many people are voting?
Voting rights are held by the Fifa executive committee, which had numbered 24 but is down to 22 after two members - Reynald Temarii of Tahiti and Amos Adamu of Nigeria - were suspended following an investigation into reports that they offered to sell their votes to undercover reporters from The Sunday Times newspaper. The Oceania Football Confederation had hoped that their acting president, David Chung of Papua New Guinea, would be able to vote in place of the suspended Temarii but those hopes were dashed on Tuesday night when Temarii decided to launch an appeal.
Who are these people?
The 22 members with a vote are: Sepp Blatter (Switzerland), Julio Grondona (Argentina), Issa Hayatou (Cameroon), Chung Mong-joon (South Korea), Jack Warner (Trinidad and Tobago), Angel Maria Villar (Spain), Michel Platini (France), Geoff Thompson (England), Michel D'Hooghe (Belgium), Ricardo Teixeira (Brazil), Mohamed bin Hammam (Qatar), Senes Erzik (Turkey), Chuck Blazer (United States), Worawi Makudi (Thailand), Nicolas Leoz (Paraguay), Junji Ogura (Japan), Marios Lefkaritis (Cyprus), Jacques Anouma (Ivory Coast), Franz Beckenbauer (Germany), Rafael Salguero (Guatemala), Hany Abo Rida (Egypt), Vitaly Mutko (Russia).
How do the voters decide?
Fifa produced lengthy technical reports on the bids and the candidates will each get to make a presentation to the voting Fifa members. While that carries some weight, people in the know say more important are the personal chats between bid representatives and the powerful members of the executive committee.
How does the voting work?
Before the voting, the candidates will make their final presentations, lasting 30 minutes. They began yesterday, with the 2022 bidding nations, and conclude today. The executive committee will hold a closed meeting at 6pm at Fifa HQ and then start the voting process. The 2018 vote will take place first followed by 2022, with the winners due to be announced at 7pm. The winner will be the bid which obtains 50-per cent-plus-one of the votes of the executive committee members present. If no bid achieves an absolute majority, the bidders with the lowest number of votes will be eliminated and a new round of voting will begin.
What if there is a tie?
If the voting comes down to the last two bids and there is a tie, Blatter, the Fifa president, will have the casting vote.
How will we find out who has won?
The votes will be taken in secret and the results will not be announced after each round, meaning there will be no clues as to how the voting has gone before Blatter opens the envelopes at the decision ceremony at the Messezentrum Zurich.
More coverage from the Future Forum
Company%C2%A0profile
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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
'Peninsula'
Stars: Gang Dong-won, Lee Jung-hyun, Lee Ra
Director: Yeon Sang-ho
Rating: 2/5
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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
Defined benefit and defined contribution schemes explained
Defined Benefit Plan (DB)
A defined benefit plan is where the benefit is defined by a formula, typically length of service to and salary at date of leaving.
Defined Contribution Plan (DC)
A defined contribution plan is where the benefit depends on the amount of money put into the plan for an employee, and how much investment return is earned on those contributions.
The Gandhi Murder
- 71 - Years since the death of MK Gandhi, also christened India's Father of the Nation
- 34 - Nationalities featured in the film The Gandhi Murder
- 7 - million dollars, the film's budget
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
Anxiety and work stress major factors
Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.
A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.
Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.
One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.
It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."
Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.
“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.
“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."
Daniel Bardsley
UAE%20medallists%20at%20Asian%20Games%202023
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WWE Evolution results
- Trish Stratus and Lita beat Alicia Fox and Mickie James in a tag match
- Nia Jax won a battle royal, eliminating Ember Moon last to win
- Toni Storm beat Io Shirai to win the Mae Young Classic
- Natalya, Sasha Banks and Bayley beat The Riott Squad in a six-woman tag match
- Shayna Baszler won the NXT Women’s title by defeating Kairi Sane
- Becky Lynch retained the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair in a Last Woman Standing match
- Ronda Rousey retained the Raw Women’s title by beating Nikki Bella
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
T20 World Cup Qualifier
October 18 – November 2
Opening fixtures
Friday, October 18
ICC Academy: 10am, Scotland v Singapore, 2.10pm, Netherlands v Kenya
Zayed Cricket Stadium: 2.10pm, Hong Kong v Ireland, 7.30pm, Oman v UAE
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Rameez Shahzad, Darius D’Silva, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zawar Farid, Ghulam Shabber, Junaid Siddique, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Waheed Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Zahoor Khan
Players out: Mohammed Naveed, Shaiman Anwar, Qadeer Ahmed
Players in: Junaid Siddique, Darius D’Silva, Waheed Ahmed
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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.
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
