Fifa’s executive committee started a two-day meeting on Thursday to decide the dates of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which will be the first held in winter.
After more than four years of controversy over the tournament, dogged by allegations of corruption in the bidding and concerns over the treatment of migrant workers, the final dates will be a firm sign from Fifa that there is no going back on its decision to choose Qatar.
Fifa’s leadership has already made clear that the event, switched from the summer because of Qatar’s scorching temperatures, will be in November-December.
The 25 member executive now faces the difficult decision of when in December to hold the final.
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The tournament is expected to be shortened from the usual 32 days to reduce the fallout for Europe’s league championships, which could demand hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for the change.
Fifa president Sepp Blatter has also said the tournament will not run after December 18, in a bid to reassure the English Premier League, which feared a clash with their packed Christmas programme.
But top European clubs are still angry over the disruption to their cash rich championships which contributed three quarters of the players who appeared at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Blatter has already held talks with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, chairman of Bayern Munich and head of the European Club Association. But negotiations are expected to last several months.
Fifa leaders will also hear from organisers of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, which has had to cut its budget and the size of some planned stadiums because of damage to the economy caused by the collapse of the oil price and international sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine.
A Russian delegation including Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko met with Blatter and other Fifa management on Wednesday and he told reporters that “there were no questions raised after.”
The meeting will also decide whether South Korea or France will host the 2019 women’s World Cup, with an announcement expected Thursday.
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What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
Omar Yabroudi's factfile
Born: October 20, 1989, Sharjah
Education: Bachelor of Science and Football, Liverpool John Moores University
2010: Accrington Stanley FC, internship
2010-2012: Crystal Palace, performance analyst with U-18 academy
2012-2015: Barnet FC, first-team performance analyst/head of recruitment
2015-2017: Nottingham Forest, head of recruitment
2018-present: Crystal Palace, player recruitment manager
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The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre, V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: seven-speed PDK dual clutch automatic
Power: 375bhp
Torque: 520Nm
Price: Dh332,800
On sale: now
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More on Quran memorisation:
RESULT
Esperance de Tunis 1 Guadalajara 1
(Esperance won 6-5 on penalties)
Esperance: Belaili 38’
Guadalajara: Sandoval 5’
Match info:
Portugal 1
Ronaldo (4')
Morocco 0
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
