Fifa on Sunday announced that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has already proven to be a grand success with record attendances witnessed during the group stage.
The tournament in Qatar set a record as teams from all continents advanced to the round of 16 for the first time ever. Also for the first time, three teams from the Asian Football Confederation (Australia, Japan and South Korea) reached the knockout stages.
The biggest positive was the number of fans who witnessed matches at the eight venues in and around Doha. Fifa said the cumulative attendance of over 2.45 million spectators - which translated into 96 per cent occupancy - for the first 48 matches of the group stage was the second highest after the 1994 tournament in the United States.
The tournament also saw the highest attendance in a game since the 1994 final, with 88,966 fans witnessing Argentina beating Mexico 2-0 at the Lusail Stadium.
The 1994 World Cup final between Brazil and Italy was watched by 94,194 spectators at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, US.
"The outcome of the group stage shows the extent to which more countries have acquired the tools to compete at the highest level," Arsene Wenger, Fifa's chief of global football development, said.
"This is the result of better preparation and analysis of the opponents, which is also a reflection of a more equal access to technology. It is very much in line with FIFA's efforts to increase football's competitiveness on a global scale."
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
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- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
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- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
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Esperance: Belaili 38’
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Based: Business Bay, with offices in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and India
Sector: Technology, digital marketing and e-commerce
Size: 70 employees
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Funding: Self-funded to date
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Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
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