Mohamed Salah's possible inclusion in the Egypt Olympic squad is dividing opinion. Reuters
Mohamed Salah's possible inclusion in the Egypt Olympic squad is dividing opinion. Reuters

Mo Salah Olympic future divides opinion in Egypt



Mohamed Salah, to be an Olympian for Egypt or not. It is a debate that has been raging in Egyptian football ahead of the Tokyo Games next year.

The arguments have been aired publicly and passionately on chat shows, social media and in newspaper columns, and started even before the Under 23 squad won the Cup of African Nations last week with a 2-1 win over the Ivory Coast.

The younger Pharaohs secured their trip to Tokyo 2020 when they emphatically beat South Africa 3-0 in the semifinals. With that, their focus shifted to lifting the cup, while the Salah debate started as soon as the post-match news conference the day of the South Africa match.

That the Liverpool winger would give the team significant strength up front is beyond doubt, but his inclusion would be at the expense of an existing member of the squad, one who has already helped the team qualify and win the tournament.

“It is only natural for Salah to join the squad. Countries that compete in the Olympics routinely add their superstars to lift the level of play and attract more media interest,” said football commentator Sabry Sirag. “Salah is one of the world’s biggest stars. It’s only expected for him to be called up for Tokyo.”

It is a logical argument, but with up to eight months before the deadline for submitting the squad names, many in Egypt are counselling patience.

The U-23 squad’s strong showing is being used against the inclusion of any seniors to the team, whether it’s Salah or others.

Beside a perfect record throughout the tournament, Ramadan Sobhy won best player, Mustafa Mohammed received the top scorer prize and Mohammed Sobhy was voted best goalkeeper. That and winning the cup gave the team the nickname “the real men.”

In their entirety, the nickname, the coveted continental triumph and the accolades run in sharp contrast to how the Salah-led senior Pharaohs have fared over the past year.

They also appear, at least for now, to have shifted much of the affection of the fans away from the Pharaohs and toward their younger version.

The senior Pharaohs’ poor form began with a dismal run in the World Cup in Russia when Egypt, after a 29-year hiatus, crashed out after losing all three group matches.

In the summer of this year, Egypt hosted the Cup of African Nations amid high hopes they would extend their record of seven wins. The Pharaohs made a promising start, winning all three group matches, but fell to South Africa in the round of 16.

More recently, they drew against African lightweights Kenya and the Comoros Islands in qualifiers for the 2021 edition of the Cup of African Nations in Cameroon. Salah did not play either because of injury, but his name is closely associated with the failures there and in Russia, when he was widely criticized for coming to the defence of team-mate Amr Warda against sexual harassment accusations.

“I think it’s premature to talk about this now,” said Sobhy, replying to a question about Salah’s inclusion. “Give these people (the U-23 squad) their due. They are real men who gave it their all. We will talk about it when the time comes,” said Sobhy, who now plays for Cairo powerhouse Al Ahly after he failed to impress in short stints with English clubs Stoke City and Huddersfield.

How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
  • The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
  • The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
  • The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
  • The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
  • The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

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Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Stage result

1. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 4:42:34

2. Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe

3. Elia Viviani (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers

4. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) BikeExchange-Jayco

5. Emils Liepins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo

6. Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ

7. Max Kanter (Ger) Movistar Team

8. Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma

9. Tom Devriendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux

10. Pascal Ackermann (Ger) UAE Team Emirate

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  1. Mastery of audio-visual content creation. 
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Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed 

Company%20Profile
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi

From: Dara

To: Team@

Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT

Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East

Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.

Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.

I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.

This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.

It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.

Uber on,

Dara

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

Super 30

Produced: Sajid Nadiadwala and Phantom Productions
Directed: Vikas Bahl
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Srivastav, Mrinal Thakur
Rating: 3.5 /5

Specs

Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request

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Our legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
  1. Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
  2. Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
  3. Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
  4. Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
  5. Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
  6. The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
  7. Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269

*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year

The specs

Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors

Power: 480kW

Torque: 850Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)

On sale: Now

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