High-spending World Cup 2022 hosts Qatar are splurging almost US$500 million every week on major infrastructure projects for football’s biggest tournament, the country’s finance minister said on Tuesday (Feb 7).

The Khalifa Stadium in Doha which is undergoing complete renovation in preparation to host some of the matches for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. (AFP/STR)

That eye-watering level of spending could continue until 2021, Ali Shareef Al-Emadi said. “We are spending close to $500 million per week on capital projects,” he told journalists.

“And this will carry on for the next three to four years to achieve our goal and objective of really getting the country ready for 2022.”

More than US$200 billion (€187 billion) will be spent in total by the gas-rich Emirate in preparation for 2022.

Emadi said this figure covered not only stadiums but huge and costly projects such as roads, a new airport and hospitals. “Ninety per cent of the 2022 contracts have already been awarded,” added Emadi.

“That doesn’t mean the stadiums only, we are talking about highways, rail, ports, airports, those are really underway, even hospitals and everything.”

He added: “We are really giving ourselves a good chance of delivering things on time and we don’t want to get in a place that we start painting while people are coming to the country.”

Asked if this would make Qatar’s tournament the most expensive World Cup ever, the minister said no. “We are putting US$200 billion in terms of infrastructure … If you look at stand alone, the World Cup, no it is not.”

Emadi, who was speaking to a group of international journalists on a government-invited press trip, said the money for World Cup projects had been protected from cuts despite Qatar experiencing budget constraints in recent times because of energy price fluctuations.

Last year, Qatar ran an estimated budget deficit of more than US$12 billion, its first in 15 years. The state budget for 2017 was approved with a deficit of US$7.7 billion.

Qatar, which has the world’s third-largest natural gas reserves and produces up to 800,000 barrels of oil a day, has been forced to tighten its belt following a 2014 collapse in the price of crude.

The market has now partially recovered and Emadi said that Qatar is “very comfortable” with current oil prices.

Asked if Qatar would consider financing its deficit by selling debt on international bond markets this year, he said no final decision had yet been taken by the government.

In consort with other Gulf nations, Qatar will introduce a Value Added Tax, probably in 2018. He denied that this could pave the way for an eventual introduction of an income tax in Qatar.

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Following his success in Ballon d’Or, Portugal and Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo is set to add another garland – the Best FIFA Men’s Player – on Monday in Zurich.

After Champions League and Euro 2016 success for club and country last year, Ronaldo is the overwhelming favourite for yet another accolade for his bulging trophy cabinet.

It could well be a double celebration for Real, with their manager Zinedine Zidane hoping to land the coaches title having led the merengues to European Cup glory – 14 years after doing so as a player.

Last year, FIFA ended its six-year collaboration with magazine France Football for the Ballon d’Or award and is now to unveil its own brand new “Best” distinction.

In accordance with the pizzazz such a star-studded occasion demands, US actress Eva Longoria will host the ceremony aided by German broadcast host Marco Schreyl.

With his Ballon d’Or safely tucked away after his third Champions League title, thanks in major part to his 16 goals in 12 games, as well as Portugal’s Euro 2016 success – the country’s first major crown – CR7 is seen as a shoe-in for the men’s new FIFA title.

About the only downside for the former Manchester United and Sporting Lisbon star was the fact he was off the pitch when Portugal sealed their win over France, having been stretchered off with injury in the first half in tears.

He watched Eder’s extra-time winner from the bench.

BEST SEASON

Ronaldo himself acknowledged to sports daily Marca late last year that it was a “fantastic season,” indeed “perhaps my best on an individual and team level.”

His achievements will almost certainly see him once again shut out longtime rival Lionel Messi and Atletico Madrid’s French striker Antoine Griezmann for the FIFA award.

His Euro 2016 final injury aside, the only other blip of sorts for Ronaldo, 31, was the fact he was named in the Football Leaks financial scandal.

He and his entourage have strenuously denied claims that he has illegally stashed some €150 million in offshore tax havens and Swiss bank accounts.

But it unlikely that issue will trouble the national coaches and skippers and journalists called upon to seal their FIFA choice.

Zidane, meanwhile, will face challenges from Claudio Ranieri, surprise English Premier League winner with Leicester, and Portugal boss Fernando Santos for the top coach award.

“Zizou” acknowledges he is still a novice as coach — having landed the top job at the Bernabeu on replacing the sacked Rafa Benitez mid-season.

But he promptly secured glory in Europe and added the European Super Cup and World Club Cup for good measure – not bad going for a debutant.

Ranieri, meanwhile, secured Leicester’s first league crown against all the odds in a success that stunned the sporting world

Zidane, 44, modestly says he does not expect to win. “It would be normal to give it to someone else – I’ve just started” as coach, he notes. “It’s all new for me. I have to keep working.”

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 Arsenal staged a sensational fightback from three goals down as Olivier Giroud’s last-gasp equaliser rescued a draw at Bournemouth, while Swansea welcomed new boss Paul Clement with a crucial 2-1 win at Crystal Palace on Tuesday (Jan 3).

Arsene Wenger’s side were facing their first defeat – and a major setback to their Premier League title hopes – to Bournemouth after goals from Charlie Daniels, Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser stunned the Gunners at Dean Court.

But Arsenal scored three times in the last 20 minutes as Alexis Sanchez and Lucas Perez netted before Bournemouth captain Simon Francis was sent off, setting the stage for Giroud’s headed equaliser in the second minute of stoppage time.

The Gunners’ gritty 3-3 draw left them in fourth place, eight points behind leaders Chelsea, who play their game in hand at Tottenham on Wednesday.

“We refused to lose the game. It was a mental test,” Wenger said. “There’s a great resilience in the team and we saw that today. It was not a result we wanted before the game but at 3-0 down we’d have signed for 3-3.”

At Selhurst Park, Clement saw Swansea climb off the bottom of the table just hours after his appointment and in the day’s other match Stoke won 2-0 against a Watford side on the slide.

“Paul came down for some moral support, he made his presence felt at half-time,” said Swansea caretaker boss Alan Curtis. “We would have surprised a lot of people with our performance today.”

Wenger had bemoaned the fixture schedule that had Arsenal back in action just 48 hours after their victory against Palace and the Frenchman wore a furious expression as his sluggish side were torn apart in the first half.

Bournemouth took the lead in the 16th minute when Daniels collected a Junior Stanislas pass, cut past Hector Bellerin and slotted home.

Fraser earned a 21st-minute penalty with a surging run that teased a needless foul from Granit Xhaka.

Wilson sent Petr Cech the wrong way with a cool spot-kick and Fraser made it three for Bournemouth when he got away with a nudge on Bellerin and fired home in the 58th minute.

Sanchez’s 70th-minute header from Giroud’s cross gave Arsenal hope and Perez set up a tense finale when the striker bagged his first Premier League goal with a superb volley five minutes later.

MEMORABLE

Francis’s red card for a rash lunge on Aaron Ramsey stacked the odds against Bournemouth and France striker Giroud capped the fightback when he scored with a glancing header from Xhaka’s cross.

Giroud celebrated by replicating the scorpion kick that brought him a memorable goal against Palace on Sunday.

Clement, who had been working as Bayern Munich’s assistant coach, is Swansea’s third boss this season following the sackings of Bob Bradley and Francesco Guidolin.

Having been appointed earlier in the day, Clement was at Selhurst Park to watch his new team, although caretaker Alan Curtis picked the starting line-up, and the presence of their new boss energised Swansea.

Their pressure was rewarded in the 42nd minute when Gylfi Sigurdsson’s free-kick was headed in by Alfie Mawson for his first Premier League goal.

Sam Allardyce, taking charge of his first home match as Palace boss, trudged off with boos ringing in his ears at half-time.

Palace drew level in the 83rd minute when Wilfried Zaha met a Martin Kelly cross in midair with a superb scissor kick from 15 yards.

But Clement, who had been in the dug-out since half-time, was celebrating five minutes later when Angel Rangel smashed the winner to lift Swansea to 19th place, one point behind fourth-bottom Palace.

Stoke moved away from the relegation zone with a 2-0 win against Watford at the Britannia Stadium.

Ryan Shawcross put Stoke ahead on the stroke of half-time with a confident finish from Charlie Adam’s corner.

Adam was the provider again when Stoke increased their lead, this time sending over a cross that Peter Crouch converted in the 49th minute.

English Premier League results:

Bournemouth 3 Arsenal 3
Crystal Palace 1 Swansea 2
Stoke 2 Watford 0

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In-form midfielder Dele Alli scored two near-identical headers as Tottenham Hotspur beat Chelsea 2-0 on Wednesday (Jan 4) to torpedo the Premier League leaders’ hopes of a record 14th consecutive victory.

Chelsea were bidding to become the first team to win 14 successive games within the same English top-flight season, but Alli’s goals, both set up by Christian Eriksen, brought them down to earth.

“We were competitive against a team in very good form, one of the best in Europe, and we feel very proud and pleased because the performance was very solid,” said Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Antonio Conte’s Chelsea must content themselves with having equalled Arsenal’s season record of 13 wins in a row from 2002 and they remain five points clear of second-place Liverpool.

But the end of their winning streak will give hope to their pursuers, not least Tottenham, who rose above Manchester City and Arsenal to third place in the table, seven points below the leaders.

“It is a pity to stop this run, but Tottenham is a good team, a really strong team and I think is for sure one of the teams that can fight for the title until the end,” Conte told Sky Sports.

“My team are top of the table because we are working a lot. This league is very tough and it is important to continue to work.”

Alli, 20, has now scored a brace in three successive games and his latest double allowed Mauricio Pochettino’s men to register a fifth win in a row – their best such run in nearly a year.

It also enabled Spurs to claim a measure of revenge, both for their 2-1 defeat at Chelsea in November and the fiery 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge last May that ended their title challenge.

Pochettino, meanwhile, could celebrate his 150th Premier League game as a manager with a deeply satisfying victory.

“We are in a good position, third in the table,” he said. “But it is a long way to finish the season.”

CARBON COPY

Whereas Spurs had gone with four at the back in November’s 2-1 loss at the Bridge, here they effectively matched Chelsea’s 3-4-3 shape, which made for an attritional first half at White Hart Lane.

Spurs saw most of the ball, their wing-backs Kyle Walker and Danny Rose carrying the fight, but they struggled to pick holes in Chelsea’s rearguard and the visitors posed a threat on the break.

In the fifth minute, Nemanja Matic’s lofted pass over Spurs’ right-sided centre-back Eric Dier found Eden Hazard in ample space, only for the Belgian to shoot narrowly wide with his left foot.

Victor Wanyama and Eriksen sent low efforts wide from range for Spurs and when the hosts finally got in behind, Dier ghosting in to meet Rose’s deep free-kick, Thibaut Courtois was on hand to save.

But in first-half injury time, Spurs struck, Eriksen shaping a cross into the box from the right and Alli, hitherto close to anonymous, leaping to plant a glorious header in the top-right corner.

It was the England midfielder’s sixth goal in four games and within nine minutes of kick-off in the second half, he would have a seventh.

Urged on by a typically animated Conte, Chelsea flew out of the traps, Diego Costa testing Hugo Lloris with a skidding strike and Hazard nodding Marcos Alonso’s header wide from point-blank range.

The celebrations, though, were Tottenham’s thanks to a near carbon copy of their first goal, Eriksen swinging a cross to the back post and Alli outleaping Victor Moses and Cesar Azpilicueta to head home.

Conte made three bold changes, sending on Willian, Cesc Fabregas and Michy Batshuayi for Marcos Alonso, N’Golo Kante and Moses, with Pedro Rodriguez moving to a left wing-back role.

But his players, finally, appeared spent and Eriksen came close to adding a third with a dipping free-kick that narrowly eluded the left-hand upright.

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Zinedine Zidane celebrated a spectacular first year in charge of Real Madrid as James Rodriguez scored twice to set the European champions firmly on course for the Copa del Rey quarter-finals with a 3-0 last 16, first leg win over Sevilla.

Not even the absence of the rested Cristiano Ronaldo could halt Real’s now 38-game unbeaten run as Rodriguez took full advantage of a rare start by blasting home the opener from outside the box after just 10 minutes.

Raphael Varane headed home a second and Rodriguez added Real’s third from the penalty spot before half-time.

“The first 45 minutes were physically and technically almost perfect,” said Zidane.

The margin of Real’s win will be of particular comfort to Zidane with next week’s second leg (Jan 12) now appearing a formality amidst a hectic schedule that could see Real play 21 times in 11 weeks.

Madrid started a second consecutive home game without any of their first-choice front three as Karim Benzema was left on the bench, Ronaldo rested altogether and Gareth Bale still sidelined by a long-term ankle injury.

However, having enjoyed a rare 17-day break since their last outing in winning the Club World Cup against Japanese champions Kashima Antlers, Real started brightly.

“We have a great squad and the players are happy when they see their teammates who have played less getting the chance to play,” added Zidane.

“We are still missing players through injury. That is something we can’t change, but when someone else comes in and plays well the coach is always happy.”

Rodriguez claimed after being overlooked once more during the Club World Cup that he would consider his future in January, but made the most of a rare start with a spectacular opener after just 10 minutes.

Casemiro thundered into a challenge to dispossess Steven N’Zonzi midway inside the Sevilla half and Rodriguez dispatched the loose ball off the inside of the post from outside the area.

Luka Modric then nearly capped a brilliant team move for a second moments later when his overhead kick flew inches wide from Dani Carvajal’s cut-back.

Real were relentless before the break and another Carvajal cross was caught flush on the volley from Marcelo to sting the palms of Sergio Rico.

However, from the resulting corner, Varane was left completely unmarked to power home Toni Kroos’s delivery.

Alvaro Morata then shot straight at Rico with another glaring opportunity.

Yet, Sevilla should have gotten themselves firmly back in the tie 11 minutes before half-time when Joaquin Correa was played clean through on goal and after his initial effort was saved by Kiko Casilla, Vicente Iborra sliced wide with the goal gaping.

Instead, Sevilla found themselves 3-0 down at the break as Mariano was adjudged to have pushed Modric inside the area and Rodriguez stepped up to convert from the spot.

“We were overrun in the first-half, which is something that hasn’t happened to us in a long time,” said Sevilla boss Jorge Sampaoli.

“We have to rediscover the characteristics with which we ended 2016 as soon as possible.”

There was far fewer goalmouth action at either end after the break.

Morata fluffed lines from Marcelo’s pinpoint cross with Rodriguez waiting to apply the finish touch for his hat-trick, but Real were happy to settle on their lead, whilst Sevilla appeared to accept that the tie is already now beyond them.

Earlier, Real Sociedad also took a huge step towards the last eight as Willian Jose, Carlos Vela and Mikel Oyarzabal were on target in a 3-1 win over Villarreal.

Second division Alcorcon and Cordoba drew 0-0 in the night’s other tie.

Barcelona continue their defence of the Cup on Thursday when they travel to Athletic Bilbao for the first leg of their last 16 clash.

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