It seems fair to assume that the most pressing matter on Roman Abramovich's mind is not the ceaseless trial of Chelsea. He has a far more enervating one of his own.
Chelsea's billionaire owner has spent much of November in London's Royal Courts of Justice, attempting to defend an unprecedented private litigation. At stake is US$5.8billion (Dh21.3bn), some 40 per cent of Abramovich's wealth, and a sum that has forced some extraordinary public confessions.
He is accused of coercing two erstwhile allies - fellow Russian, Boris Berezovsky, and the now deceased Georgian, Badri Patarkashshivili - into selling him stakes in oil and aluminium companies at a price billions of dollars under market value.
Abramovich's defence is that his relationship with the pair was not as a co-owner of businesses that mushroomed in value following "friendly" auctions by the post-communist Russian state, but as a purchaser of political and physical protection.
In pages of testimony, Abramovich claims to have made billions of dollars of "krysha" payments to Berezovsky and Patarkashshivili in return for favourable treatment from the Kremlin and what he labels "resolving problems on the ground".
At one point, Abramovich's describes negotiating a fee for the latter service. "[Mr Patarkashshivili] asked me for $700m," Abramovich said. "I thought that was too much but we both knew it was his starting position. My recollection is I offered $400m ... we ultimately compromised on a figure of $540m."
It is as easy to imagine the Russian's frustration with the court proceedings as it has been to observe his anger at his prodigious spending on Chelsea never quite managing to achieve its goal. His problem with Andre Villas-Boas, however, is an unusual one.
Normally, losing to Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and QPR in your first 12 games as Chelsea manager would spell termination.
Villas-Boas was not Abramovich's first choice to succeed Carlo Ancelotti and had not impressed several senior players.
But Villas-Boas knows his employer has invested more than just the €15m (Dh75.75m) it took to buy out his Porto contract. Abramovich has entrusted him with turning over a squad where player power has grown out of control; one that has aged and fallen behind rivals.
Sacking their 34-year-old manager will not change that. Nor will it make it any easier to recruit someone capable of fulfilling one of the hardest job remits in football. Abramovich is paying for the sins of his Chelsea past; just as the courts pore over those in Russia.
sports@thenational.ae
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
MIDWAY
Produced: Lionsgate Films, Shanghai Ryui Entertainment, Street Light Entertainment
Directed: Roland Emmerich
Cast: Ed Skrein, Woody Harrelson, Dennis Quaid, Aaron Eckhart, Luke Evans, Nick Jonas, Mandy Moore, Darren Criss
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
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Company%20Profile
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FULL%20RESULTS
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The specs: 2017 Maserati Quattroporte
Price, base / as tested Dh389,000 / Dh559,000
Engine 3.0L twin-turbo V8
Transmission Eight-speed automatic
Power 530hp @ 6,800rpm
Torque 650Nm @ 2,000 rpm
Fuel economy, combined 10.7L / 100km
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc
Switching%20sides
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More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Rajasthan Royals 153-5 (17.5 ov)
Delhi Daredevils 60-4 (6 ov)
Rajasthan won by 10 runs (D/L method)
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Top financial tips for graduates
Araminta Robertson, of the Financially Mint blog, shares her financial advice for university leavers:
1. Build digital or technical skills: After graduation, people can find it extremely hard to find jobs. From programming to digital marketing, your early twenties are for building skills. Future employers will want people with tech skills.
2. Side hustle: At 16, I lived in a village and started teaching online, as well as doing work as a virtual assistant and marketer. There are six skills you can use online: translation; teaching; programming; digital marketing; design and writing. If you master two, you’ll always be able to make money.
3. Networking: Knowing how to make connections is extremely useful. Use LinkedIn to find people who have the job you want, connect and ask to meet for coffee. Ask how they did it and if they know anyone who can help you. I secured quite a few clients this way.
4. Pay yourself first: The minute you receive any income, put about 15 per cent aside into a savings account you won’t touch, to go towards your emergency fund or to start investing. I do 20 per cent. It helped me start saving immediately.
The years Ramadan fell in May
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
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Things Heard & Seen
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton
2/5
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
Bangladesh tour of Pakistan
January 24 – First T20, Lahore
January 25 – Second T20, Lahore
January 27 – Third T20, Lahore
February 7-11 – First Test, Rawalpindi
April 3 – One-off ODI, Karachi
April 5-9 – Second Test, Karachi