ABU DHABI // Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), is confident the UAE will be a strong host when the Asian Cup expands to 24 teams in 2019.
The UAE was announced in March as host for the 2019 tournament and that was rubber-stamped after Thursday’s signing of an Organising Association Agreement with the AFC at the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr Hotel in Abu Dhabi.
The only other time the UAE hosted the event was in 1996, when they finished runners-up to Saudi Arabia.
This year’s tournament in Australia was a success, and Sheikh Salman said the UAE can build on that as the format moves from 16 to 24 teams.
“The AFC is looking forward to a successful organisation and an exceptional edition following the great success we had in Australia last January,” Sheikh Salman said. “It is big challenge hosting such an event, but I’m confident that the higher organising committee in the UAE will live up to the high expectations and provide the highest standards in hosting this championship.”
The UAE receive automatic qualification for the tournament, while 45 national teams going through qualifying until March 2018 to fill out the other slots.
“We had a successful staging of the championship at that time (in 1996), but this time around it’s going to be a new landmark in the history of the UAE sport and a new line to be scripted in the country’s football,” said Football Association president Yousef Al Serkal, who took part in the signing ceremony with Sheikh Salman.
Mohammed bin Thaloob Al Derei, head of the organising committee, said AFC inspectors were impressed with the UAE’s facilities, which include a new 60,000-seater stadium to be built in Dubai.
“We are ready to host a championship that features 60 teams and not just 24 teams only thanks to the first-class and integrated infrastructure including main venues and training facilities,” he said.
“It’s a challenge. We don’t have an intensive population like Australia and China, but we will work hard in order to ensure good attendance for the championship.”
apassela@thenational.ae
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
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Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
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
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
One-off T20 International: UAE v Australia
When: Monday, October 22, 2pm start
Where: Abu Dhabi Cricket, Oval 1
Tickets: Admission is free
Australia squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Darcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Peter Siddle
