It amounted to an unwelcome reminder of arguably one of the Premier League’s least popular players. El-Hadji Diouf established a reputation as a preposterous character. Even in retirement, his capacity to cause offence needlessly was illustrated last week when he accused Steven Gerrard of racism.
The Senegalese striker contrived to be named among Pele’s 125 best players ever, proving a great footballer is not automatically a great judge of a footballer. Jamie Carragher famously asserted Diouf was the last to be picked in training at Liverpool.
To watch the Senegalese in his latter years, as this observer had the misfortune to do too often, was to see someone who, on about three occasions a season, demonstrated his talent. More often, he seemed to think the purpose of football was to get opponents sent off. And sometimes, because subtlety was rarely his forte, his antics resulted in his own dismissal.
Diego Costa is a far better footballer than Diouf ever was and a much more accomplished goalscorer. Yet what cartoon villains have in common is an apparent belief that their side wins if the other side is reduced to 10 men.
In a manner of speaking, Costa was vindicated on Saturday. There was something darkly appropriate when Jose Mourinho described him as the man of the match. He was, in the sense that his provocative tactics paid dividends when Gabriel Paulista received a red card. Arsenal were holding Chelsea with 11 men. They went a goal down with 10 and two behind with nine.
Poll: Should Chelsea striker Diego Costa have been sent off against Arsenal?
Reaction: Mourinho hits out at 'moaning' Wenger as Costa adds new layer to feud
Yet somewhere along the line, Costa’s priorities seem to have been distorted. His tallies for the season both consist of one: a solitary league goal scored and a player beating a premature exit after he changed the tone of a game.
Go back to the start of May and there are two in each column: it is more damning because the other sent-off player was his teammate Cesc Fabregas, whose bizarre exit at West Bromwich Albion came after Costa’s inflammatory approach backfired.
So while Mourinho claimed Arsenal lacked “emotional control” on Saturday, it is a moot point if his own charges all possess it. Certainly Gabriel was foolish to fall into Costa’s trap. Yet, while he can seem a master of slyness, is he, beneath the angry exterior, calm and calculating enough to guarantee his own continuing presence on the pitch? Or does he just get away with it?
The most startling statistic generated on Saturday came when it was revealed Costa has not been sent off since 2012. A seemingly charmless man has led a charmed life.
Certainly it amounts to a failure from the refereeing profession. Somehow Costa’s litany of stamps, elbows, flailing and swinging arms, grapples with opponents’ faces, barges, swipes, scratches, imaginary yellow cards, assorted other fouls and display of dissent have not resulted in a red card.
Most, admittedly, fall into the bracket of petulant, rather than violent, conduct, but so did the flick that brought Gabriel’s instant expulsion at Stamford Bridge and will mean he serves a three-match suspension.
Perhaps referees merit some sympathy, given how many of Costa’s offences take place off the ball, but an official who only spots and punishes one team’s crimes, as Mike Dean did on Saturday, is delivering an abject performance.
Certainly Costa’s modus operandi and comparatively clean disciplinary record — ridiculously, he did not officially commit one foul against Arsenal — amount to a cast-iron case for a panel with a more comprehensive remit to sit every week, examining video evidence and taking as much retrospective action as is necessary, regardless of the referees’ reports.
There are more than 20 cameras recording every game. Costa’s various transgressions are soon apparent to all bar those in a position of power. And, seemingly, Mourinho, who turns a blind eye.
On Monday the English Football Association charged Costa with violent conduct, while both Arsenal and Chelsea were charged with failing to control their players. Gabriel was charged for improper conduct.
It is a step in the right direction. If the appropriate sanctions are applied without fail every time, it would persuade Costa to go back to goal scoring. The agent provocateur has the skills to be an agent of destruction with a ball at his feet.
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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
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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3%20Body%20Problem
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreators%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20David%20Benioff%2C%20D%20B%20Weiss%2C%20Alexander%20Woo%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBenedict%20Wong%2C%20Jess%20Hong%2C%20Jovan%20Adepo%2C%20Eiza%20Gonzalez%2C%20John%20Bradley%2C%20Alex%20Sharp%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
RESULT
Liverpool 4 Southampton 0
Jota (2', 32')
Thiago (37')
Van Dijk (52')
Man of the match: Diogo Jota (Liverpool)
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Alaan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Parthi%20Duraisamy%20and%20Karun%20Kurien%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%247%20million%20raised%20in%20total%20%E2%80%94%20%242.5%20million%20in%20a%20seed%20round%20and%20%244.5%20million%20in%20a%20pre-series%20A%20round%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
'Laal Kaptaan'
Director: Navdeep Singh
Stars: Saif Ali Khan, Manav Vij, Deepak Dobriyal, Zoya Hussain
Rating: 2/5
Company profile
Name: Back to Games and Boardgame Space
Started: Back to Games (2015); Boardgame Space (Mark Azzam became co-founder in 2017)
Founder: Back to Games (Mr Azzam); Boardgame Space (Mr Azzam and Feras Al Bastaki)
Based: Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Industry: Back to Games (retail); Boardgame Space (wholesale and distribution)
Funding: Back to Games: self-funded by Mr Azzam with Dh1.3 million; Mr Azzam invested Dh250,000 in Boardgame Space
Growth: Back to Games: from 300 products in 2015 to 7,000 in 2019; Boardgame Space: from 34 games in 2017 to 3,500 in 2019
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 275Nm from 2,000-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: from Dh155,000
On sale: now
Checks continue
A High Court judge issued an interim order on Friday suspending a decision by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots to direct a stop to Brexit agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports.
Mr Justice Colton said he was making the temporary direction until a judicial review of the minister's unilateral action this week to order a halt to port checks that are required under the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Civil servants have yet to implement the instruction, pending legal clarity on their obligations, and checks are continuing.
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Duminy's Test career in numbers
Tests 46; Runs 2,103; Best 166; Average 32.85; 100s 6; 50s 8; Wickets 42; Best 4-47
The biog
Name: Shamsa Hassan Safar
Nationality: Emirati
Education: Degree in emergency medical services at Higher Colleges of Technology
Favourite book: Between two hearts- Arabic novels
Favourite music: Mohammed Abdu and modern Arabic songs
Favourite way to spend time off: Family visits and spending time with friends
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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
German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution