Even the most distracted observer of French football would have wondered over the past 12 months if the land of Les Bleus and Ligue 1 has been suffering an unusually profound identity crisis.
Scars left by a disastrous World Cup in South Africa had seemed to be healing, as the national team, under Laurent Blanc, the new coach, strung together an impressive runs of victories.
Then, in April, the scandal broke around so-called quotas being proposed for players fast-tracked through the French development system according to their backgrounds. Blanc himself appearing to demand a policy of talent-seeking with an ethnic dimension.
Behind the controversy was an identity issue. Blanc had to apologise for causing offence with some of his comments.
Ligue 1 coaches, meanwhile, have for a while bemoaned that most talented French footballers aspire to leave, to migrate for the higher salaries and lower income taxes at clubs in Spain, England, Italy and Germany.
Now one club has gained a budget to reverse that pattern. Yet even Paris Saint-Germain's new wealth provokes tut-tutting about a loss of identity, notably from Michel Platini. "Five years ago, I said I was not a fan of Americans investing in English football," the former France captain and current Uefa president told Jeune Afrique. "I'm not going to say something different now that Qataris have arrived at PSG.
"What does it bring to a club if, say, they have an Italian head coach, a Brazilian sports director and German players? Where's the link with Paris? It's globalisation, you cannot stop it, but what happens when the Qataris leave?"
As the new campaign kicks off today, the urgent questions are not those posed by Platini, even if the talk is mostly of transformed PSG. The arrival of Qatar Sports Investments, as 70 per cent stakeholders in the club has altered the landscape. France's top-flight, by most indices about the fifth most competitive domestic competition in Europe, has begun to define itself as something mightier.
PSG's capture of Javier Pastore, the 22-year-old Argentine playmaker, signed for some €43 million (Dh223.7m) from Palermo, smashed spending records in French football and peeved Chelsea, who had wanted Pastore. PSG also confidently gazumped Valencia, of Spain, in hiring striker Kevin Gameiro, for some €11m.
Gameiro will be among as many as six newcomers in the PSG line-up tonight when the enriched Parisiens take on Gameiro's former club, Lorient, themselves an example of the sort of careful, lower-budget management that has made Ligue 1 one of the more open leagues of recent seasons.
Lille, the fourth different champion in four years, cleverly nurtured a group of fine young players to last season's title; and Rennes were keeping pace with them until the late spring. For the clubs with broader fan bases, such as Marseille, Lyon and PSG, such provincial challengers routinely make life uncomfortable. Bordeaux brought to an end Lyons' seven-year run of consecutive titles in 2008; Lille prevented Marseille defending their 2009 crown.
Ligue 1 has not known a genuinely sustained joust between Marseille and PSG for the title since the first half of the 1990s. The expectation in Provence is that this season will reignite the most passionate rivalry in French club football. Where PSG have been prodigal in their spending, Marseille, who begin their season at home to Sochaux, have seemed miserly.
They have fortified the squad with the central defender Nicolas Nkoulou from relegated Monaco and the holding midfielder Alou Diarra from Bordeaux, but their overall outgoings amount to a little more than €11m. They talk of answering PSG's revolution with stability, though it grates on Didier Deschamps, Marseille's head coach, to see Paris portrayed as such a desirable destination for signings.
As for the other potential champions, Lyon, who travel to Nice tonight, are under a new head coach, Remi Garde, and still searching for the dominance they once held. Lille, whose defence begins at Nancy, have held on to the gifted Eden Hazard, but lost important contributors to last season's double: Gervinho to Arsenal, Adil Rami to Valencia and Yohan Cabaye to Newcastle United.
With the Champions League to preoccupy them, a smallish squad may seem stretched. Lyon and Marseille are also involved in that tournament. PSG, with their broad new squad, are not. Domestically, the club from capital seem to hold all the aces.
sports@thenational.ae
Fixtures
Today
Ajaccio v Toulouse 11pm
Nancy v Lille 11pm
Brest v Evian 11pm
Caen v Valenciennes 11pm
Marseille v Sochaux 11pm
Montpellier v Auxerre 11pm
Nice v Lyon 11pm
PSG v Lorient 11pm
Tomorrow
Dijon v Rennes 7pm
Bordeaux v St Etienne 11pm
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
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
WHAT%20IS%20'JUICE%20JACKING'%3F
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
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
Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Gran Gala del Calcio 2019 winners
Best Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Best Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta)
Best Referee: Gianluca Rocchi
Best Goal: Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria vs Napoli)
Best Team: Atalanta
Best XI: Samir Handanovic (Inter); Aleksandar Kolarov (Roma), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Joao Cancelo (Juventus*); Miralem Pjanic (Juventus), Josip Ilicic (Atalanta), Nicolo Barella (Cagliari*); Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Duvan Zapata (Atalanta)
Serie B Best Young Player: Sandro Tonali (Brescia)
Best Women’s Goal: Thaisa (Milan vs Juventus)
Best Women’s Player: Manuela Giugliano (Milan)
Best Women’s XI: Laura Giuliani (Milan); Alia Guagni (Fiorentina), Sara Gama (Juventus), Cecilia Salvai (Juventus), Elisa Bartoli (Roma); Aurora Galli (Juventus), Manuela Giugliano (Roma), Valentina Cernoia (Juventus); Valentina Giacinti (Milan), Ilaria Mauro (Fiorentina), Barbara Bonansea (Juventus)
TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
Stree
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5
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
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
What is Genes in Space?
Genes in Space is an annual competition first launched by the UAE Space Agency, The National and Boeing in 2015.
It challenges school pupils to design experiments to be conducted in space and it aims to encourage future talent for the UAE’s fledgling space industry. It is the first of its kind in the UAE and, as well as encouraging talent, it also aims to raise interest and awareness among the general population about space exploration.
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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