In Argentina, the view is that Diego Maradona got off more lightly than anticipated when he walked out of a Fifa tribunal on Sunday with a two month ban from football and a fine of 25,000 Swiss francs (Dh91,000). His offence was last month's foul-mouthed outburst, directed at reporters after Argentina had narrowly secured qualification for the World Cup. His suspension will now have a bearing only on one or two of the lower-key warm-up events the Argentina head coach had planned between now and the middle of January.
But Maradona left Europe at the weekend with other offences levelled against him, mainly from the unsympathetic judges of the Spanish media. His team had on Saturday night lost 2-1 to Spain, the national squad ranked No 1 in the world by Fifa at the moment, in a so-called friendly in Madrid. The performance of the visitors was not so much vintage white-and-sky-blue as heavily black-and-blue. From the first minute, it was an unusually bruising encounter for a non-competitive, mid-season match. Seven yellow cards had by the final whistle been issued by the Irish referee Alan Kelly, who awarded penalties to each team in the second half.
If Spanish speakers found Maradona's language vulgar on the night he delivered Argentina to World Cup 2010, Spanish purists found his football even more so. There are, for some tastes, too many toughies and spoilers in the Argentinian team being shaped by Maradona. He has selected an extraordinarily high number of footballers in his nine games as head coach, but among those to whom he has been most loyal is the Marseille defender Gabriel Heinze, once of Real Madrid and Manchester United.
Heinze is a vigorous tackler and not an elegant runner or passer. His hardness was for a period admired in the Premier League and in Spain's La Liga, but United and Real both let him move on, deeming his best years behind him. Yet to Maradona, Heinze's failings in speed or movement seem to be compensated by his leadership. Heinze is the bristling face of this Argentina team and Spain's players recognised it immediately. The hottest head in the Spain side, Sergio Ramos, was involved in a tetchy challenge with Heinze, his former Real colleague, within 20 seconds.
From there the die was cast. Heinze had a quarrel with David Villa that required the intervention of others to restore the peace. Afterwards the mild Andres Inie-sta, one of the dainty dwarves who make up the Spanish midfield, complained about a tackle by Fabrizio Coloccini - "there were too many ugly challenges," he added - while Maradona, easing into his characteristic rhetoric, thought the referee had been influenced in favour of the home team and the fact that the Spain Football Federation was celebrating its centenary and it suited them to win because of that.
"The referee gave us nothing," remarked the head coach. Maradona has been cultivating this sort of us-against-the-world attitude since he took over the position. Indeed, he has been adopting that posture for much of his life, that of the populist rebel who rails against the West, against George Bush, against Fifa or against anything authoritarian. But with Argentina, the attitude is a necessary acknowledgment that, given their patchy progress in World Cup qualifying, they are not among the favourites for South Africa 2010, and have some alarming shortfalls in personnel.
In the company of his compatriots, Leo Messi, the best player in the world in 2009, looks isolated and dulled. At the Vicente Calderon stadium at the weekend, Messi, wearing the No 10 shirt once graced by Maradona as a player, received the ball a mere three times in the first half hour. He would have been forgiven for longing for the kind of service he gets at Barcelona from the likes of Xavi and Iniesta, who were directing operations for Spain. Argentina have nobody to compare.
Fernando Gago, the one-paced midfielder who struggles to make the first XI at his club, Real Madrid, is hardly transformed in an Argentina jersey, but he still forms a pair in central midfield with Javier Mascherano, the Argentina captain. At full-back, the aggressive Coloccini, normally a centre-half, now gets called up from the second tier of English football, where he plays for Newcastle United. At left-back, resources are scant. Argentina do have lively wingers, in Angel di Maria and Maxi Rodriguez, but when the targets in the penalty area are likely to include the diminutive Messi and Sergio Aguero, their crossing options become limited.
At least Maradona, after a long period of indifference towards Gonzalo Higuain, the Real striker, has now taken him into the fold, which will add some gumption up front. To be outpassed by Spain is no shame. Most teams are. To hear Spain complaining about unsophisticated tactics by the opposition is nothing new, either. It is a national habit. But Maradona's Argentina have much to resolve if they are to be widely feared in South Africa. And their head coach has to be careful about a good deal more than just minding his language over the next eight months.
@Email:ihawkey@thenational.ae
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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England's all-time record goalscorers:
Wayne Rooney 53
Bobby Charlton 49
Gary Lineker 48
Jimmy Greaves 44
Michael Owen 40
Tom Finney 30
Nat Lofthouse 30
Alan Shearer 30
Viv Woodward 29
Frank Lampard 29
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
PREMIER LEAGUE STATS
Romelu Lukaku's goalscoring statistics in the Premier League
Season/club/appearances (substitute)/goals
2011/12 Chelsea: 8(7) - 0
2012/13 West Brom (loan): 35(15) - 17
2013/14 Chelsea: 2(2) - 0
2013/14 Everton (loan): 31(2) - 15
2014/15 Everton: 36(4) - 10
2015/16 Everton: 37(1) - 18
2016/17 Everton: 37(1) - 25
SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
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Types of bank fraud
1) Phishing
Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
2) Smishing
The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
3) Vishing
The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
4) SIM swap
Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
5) Identity theft
Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
6) Prize scams
Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
'Skin'
Dir: Guy Nattiv
Starring: Jamie Bell, Danielle McDonald, Bill Camp, Vera Farmiga
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Walls
Louis Tomlinson
3 out of 5 stars
(Syco Music/Arista Records)
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Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
Cracks in the Wall
Ben White, Pluto Press
Match info
Arsenal 0
Manchester City 2
Sterling (14'), Bernardo Silva (64')
Company%20Profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Tour de France
When: July 7-29
UAE Team Emirates:
Dan Martin, Alexander Kristoff, Darwin Atapuma, Marco Marcato, Kristijan Durasek, Oliviero Troia, Roberto Ferrari and Rory Sutherland
Company%20Profile
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Pari
Produced by: Clean Slate Films (Anushka Sharma, Karnesh Sharma) & KriArj Entertainment
Director: Prosit Roy
Starring: Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Rajat Kapoor, Mansi Multani
Three stars
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Scoreline
Germany 2
Werner 9', Sane 19'
Netherlands 2
Promes 85', Van Dijk 90'
The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
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