Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone has agreed to extend his contract with the Spanish champions by three years to 2020 and pledged to help the club cement their position back among Europe's elite.
The deal, which runs until the end of the 2019/20 campaign, was widely expected although that did not prevent plenty of speculation a wealthy rival could try to lure Simeone away from the club he twice represented as a player.
“I have chosen to be here because I am convinced the club will continue to grow,” Simeone told a news conference.
“Because it is strong, there is enthusiasm and there are people here whose desire to participate is stronger each day,” added the 44-year-old Argentine.
A former Argentina captain said to play "with a knife between his teeth", the combative Simeone transformed Atletico after taking over at the end of 2011, leading them to their first La Liga title in 18 years last term.
Atletico won the Europa League at the end of his debut season and reached the final of the Champions League in 2013/14 where they lost 4-1 to Real Madrid after extra time.
They thrashed Chelsea 4-1 to claim the 2012 European Super Cup, won the Copa del Rey a year later by beating Real in the final and defeated their neighbours over two legs to secure the Spanish Super Cup in August.
Real will again be their opponents in the quarter-finals of the latest edition of the Champions League, with the first leg at Atletico’s Vicente Calderon on April 14 and the return at the Santiago Bernabeu eight days later.
“He triumphed as a player and became a club legend and we knew we weren’t making a mistake when we proposed to bring him back as coach,” Atletico president Enrique Cerezo told reporters.
“He has helped us underpin the club’s growth with his tremendous success on the pitch and he has consolidated our place among the European football elite,” he added.
Atletico are unlikely to defend their La Liga title this season as they are nine points behind leaders Barcelona in fourth with 10 games left.
As well as the Champions League last eight, Simeone’s priority for the remainder of the campaign will be to secure a lucrative berth in Europe’s elite club competition again for next season.
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Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica
Best Agent: Jorge Mendes
Best Club : Liverpool
Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker
Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP
Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart
Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)
Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)
Best Women's Player: Lucy Bronze
Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi
Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
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Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
