Portuguese fifth-tier side Os Belenenses are hoping to tempt iconic Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon to join them at the end of the season with an offer including custard tarts and museum tickets.
Buffon said he will leave Juve when his contract expires at the end of the season, but the 43-year-old has left the door open to continuing his career elsewhere.
"We heard that you are looking for a new challenge and are receptive to listening to a 'crazy and stimulating' proposal," the Lisbon club wrote in an open letter.
"Therefore, we decided to present you with something irresistible: how about moving to Lisbon and helping us to quickly return to our place in Portuguese football, the I Liga [top flight]?"
The club promised to include in their contract offer tickets to various tourist attractions around the city, including an annual pass to the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology.
They also offer "a pack of six Pasteis de Belem [custard tarts] a week, one of the most popular specialities of Portuguese sweets, which you will certainly enjoy without tweaking your diet."
Belenenses are one of Portugal’s oldest clubs, but split with Belenenses SAD in 2018 over a dispute and were forced to start again from the bottom of the Portuguese football structure.
They have one Portuguese title to their name and three Portuguese Cups.
They also tried to tempt Buffon by making a comparison with his first club Parma, who were sent to the fourth tier of Italian football in 2015 after going bankrupt.
"Despite our rich history and being the fourth club with the most fans in Portugal, we are currently competing at the fifth national level. Do you remember the route your dear Parma took? Ours is somehow similar," they wrote.
Considered one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, Buffon won 10 Serie A titles and four Coppa Italia trophies with Juve, as well as achieving World Cup glory with Italy in 2006.
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Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
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In Dubai:
Dh200 for littering or spitting in the Dubai Metro
Dh500 for throwing cigarette butts or chewing gum on the floor, or littering from a vehicle.
Dh1,000 for littering on a beach, spitting in public places, throwing a cigarette butt from a vehicle
In Sharjah and other emirates
Dh500 for littering - including cigarette butts and chewing gum - in public places and beaches in Sharjah
Dh2,000 for littering in Sharjah deserts
Dh500 for littering from a vehicle in Ras Al Khaimah
Dh1,000 for littering from a car in Abu Dhabi
Dh1,000 to Dh100,000 for dumping waste in residential or public areas in Al Ain
Dh10,000 for littering at Ajman's beaches
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
RACECARD
4.30pm Jebel Jais – Maiden (PA) Dh60,000 (Turf) 1,000m
5pm: Jabel Faya – Maiden (PA) Dh60,000 (T) 1,000m
5.30pm: Al Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m
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PROFILE OF HALAN
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Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
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A major shake-up of government-run schools was rolled out across the country in 2017. Known as the Emirati School Model, it placed more emphasis on maths and science while also adding practical skills to the curriculum.
It was accompanied by the promise of a Dh5 billion investment, over six years, to pay for state-of-the-art infrastructure improvements.
Aspects of the school model will be extended to international private schools, the education minister has previously suggested.
Recent developments have also included the introduction of moral education - which public and private schools both must teach - along with reform of the exams system and tougher teacher licensing requirements.
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