Son Heung-min will miss South Korea's first two matches at the Asian Cup in January in the UAE under a compromise agreed with Tottenham Hotspur to release him for this month's Asian Games, the Korea Football Association (KFA) said Wednesday.
The South Korean striker will fly to Indonesia for the Asian Games - where a gold medal is likely to win him exemption from military service - after Tottenham's Premier League season opener against Newcastle United on August 11, a KFA spokesman said.
Spurs had initially sought to keep Son back until August 18, when they have a Premier League match against Fulham.
That would have effectively kept the 26-year-old out of the group stage for Asia's mini-Olympics, where the football tournament runs from August 14 to September 2.
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But Spurs later relented, striking a deal that rules Son out of South Korea's Asian Cup games on January 7 and 11 against the Philippines and Kyrgyzstan, as well as an international friendly in November.
There are precedents for footballers being granted exemptions from South Korea's 21-month military service, as happened in 2002, when the national team reached the World Cup semi-finals, and in 2014, when they won gold at the Asian Games in Incheon.
However, Son missed South Korea's triumph in 2014 when his former club, Bayer Leverkusen, refused to release him.
Son, who is on Tottenham's pre-season tour of the United States, said he felt "sorry to be leaving my team-mates" for the Asian Games at the start of the Premier League season.
"I am playing for my country and that's also important, but honestly I feel very sorry about that," he was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
Asian Games gold and a military service exemption would be a consolation for Son, who broke down in tears when South Korea were eliminated at the World Cup group stage despite stunning Germany 2-0 in their final game.
Son, who last month signed a new deal keeping him at Tottenham until 2023, has emerged as one of the club's key players, scoring 47 goals in 140 appearances to become the top Asian scorer in Premier League history.
if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct to Kolkata from Dh1,504 and Dh1,450 return including taxes, respectively. The flight takes four hours 30 minutes outbound and 5 hours 30 minute returning.
The trains
Numerous trains link Kolkata and Murshidabad but the daily early morning Hazarduari Express (3’ 52”) is the fastest and most convenient; this service also stops in Plassey. The return train departs Murshidabad late afternoon. Though just about feasible as a day trip, staying overnight is recommended.
The hotels
Mursidabad’s hotels are less than modest but Berhampore, 11km south, offers more accommodation and facilities (and the Hazarduari Express also pauses here). Try Hotel The Fame, with an array of rooms from doubles at Rs1,596/Dh90 to a ‘grand presidential suite’ at Rs7,854/Dh443.
COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Eco Way
Started: December 2023
Founder: Ivan Kroshnyi
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Electric vehicles
Investors: Bootstrapped with undisclosed funding. Looking to raise funds from outside
Best Foreign Language Film nominees
Capernaum (Lebanon)
Cold War (Poland)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Roma (Mexico)
Shoplifters (Japan)
Company Profile
Name: Direct Debit System
Started: Sept 2017
Based: UAE with a subsidiary in the UK
Industry: FinTech
Funding: Undisclosed
Investors: Elaine Jones
Number of employees: 8
Fines for littering
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
Getting there
Etihad Airways flies daily to the Maldives from Abu Dhabi. The journey takes four hours and return fares start from Dh3,995. Opt for the 3am flight and you’ll land at 6am, giving you the entire day to adjust to island time.
Round trip speedboat transfers to the resort are bookable via Anantara and cost $265 per person.
Company profile
Name: Tharb
Started: December 2016
Founder: Eisa Alsubousi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: Luxury leather goods
Initial investment: Dh150,000 from personal savings
Law 41.9.4 of men’s T20I playing conditions
The fielding side shall be ready to start each over within 60 seconds of the previous over being completed.
An electronic clock will be displayed at the ground that counts down seconds from 60 to zero.
The clock is not required or, if already started, can be cancelled if:
• A new batter comes to the wicket between overs.
• An official drinks interval has been called.
• The umpires have approved the on field treatment of an injury to a batter or fielder.
• The time lost is for any circumstances beyond the control of the fielding side.
• The third umpire starts the clock either when the ball has become dead at the end of the previous over, or a review has been completed.
• The team gets two warnings if they are not ready to start overs after the clock reaches zero.
• On the third and any subsequent occasion in an innings, the bowler’s end umpire awards five runs.
The specs
Engine: 6.5-litre V12
Power: 725hp at 7,750rpm
Torque: 716Nm at 6,250rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Q4 2023
Price: From Dh1,650,000
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 2 (Mahrez 04', Ake 84')
Leicester City 5 (Vardy 37' pen, 54', 58' pen, Maddison 77', Tielemans 88' pen)
Man of the match: Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)
The bio
Favourite food: Japanese
Favourite car: Lamborghini
Favourite hobby: Football
Favourite quote: If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough
Favourite country: UAE
TECH SPECS: APPLE IPHONE 14 PLUS
Display: 6.1" Super Retina XDR OLED, 2778 x 1284, 458ppi, HDR, True Tone, P3, 1200 nits
Processor: A15 Bionic, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Memory: 6GB
Capacity: 128/256/512GB
Platform: iOS 16
Main camera: Dual 12MP main (f/1.5) + 12MP ultra-wide (f/2.4); 2x optical, 5x digital; Photonic Engine, Deep Fusion, Smart HDR 4, Portrait Lighting
Main camera video: 4K @ 24/25/3060fps, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps, HD @ 30fps; HD slo-mo @ 120/240fps; night, time lapse, cinematic, action modes; Dolby Vision, 4K HDR
Front camera: 12MP TrueDepth (f/1.9), Photonic Engine, Deep Fusion, Smart HDR 4; Animoji, Memoji; Portrait Lighting
Front camera video: 4K @ 24/25/3060fps, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps, HD slo-mo @ 120fps; night, time lapse, cinematic, action modes; Dolby Vision, 4K HDR
Battery: 4323 mAh, up to 26h video, 20h streaming video, 100h audio; fast charge to 50% in 30m; MagSafe, Qi wireless charging
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC (Apple Pay)
Biometrics: Face ID
I/O: Lightning
Cards: Dual eSIM / eSIM + SIM (US models use eSIMs only)
Colours: Blue, midnight, purple, starlight, Product Red
In the box: iPhone 14, USB-C-to-Lightning cable, one Apple sticker
Price: Dh3,799 / Dh4,199 / Dh5,049
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Co Chocolat
Started: 2017
Founders: Iman and Luchie Suguitan
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Food
Funding: $1 million-plus
Investors: Fahad bin Juma, self-funding, family and friends
Roger Federer's 2018 record
Australian Open Champion
Rotterdam Champion
Indian Wells Runner-up
Miami Second round
Stuttgart Champion
Halle Runner-up
Wimbledon Quarter-finals
Cincinnati Runner-up
US Open Fourth round
Shanghai Semi-finals
Basel Champion
Paris Masters Semi-finals
Company Profile
Name: Raha
Started: 2022
Based: Kuwait/Saudi
Industry: Tech Logistics
Funding: $14 million
Investors: Soor Capital, eWTP Arabia Capital, Aujan Enterprises, Nox Management, Cedar Mundi Ventures
Number of employees: 166
Leaderboard
63 - Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA)
64 - Rory McIlroy (NIR)
66 - Jon Rahm (ESP)
67 - Tom Lewis (ENG), Tommy Fleetwood (ENG)
68 - Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP), Marcus Kinhult (SWE)
69 - Justin Rose (ENG), Thomas Detry (BEL), Francesco Molinari (ITA), Danny Willett (ENG), Li Haotong (CHN), Matthias Schwab (AUT)
RACE SCHEDULE
All times UAE (+4 GMT)
Friday, September 29
First practice: 7am - 8.30am
Second practice: 11am - 12.30pm
Saturday, September 30
Qualifying: 1pm - 2pm
Sunday, October 1
Race: 11am - 1pm