Beijing: Work began on Friday for the Beijing Olympic village for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
The village in the north of urban Beijing, with a total floor space of 200,000 square metres, is one of the three Olympic villages for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, reports Xinhua news agency.
The other two are in Yanqing District in the northern suburb of Beijing, and the city of Zhangjiakou in neighbouring Hebei Province.
After the Games, the village will be turned into public rental housing, according to the state-owned Beijing Investment Group, the investor, builder and operator of the village.
The company said the design of the village has given full consideration to the needs of both the Games and the residents that will move in after the Games.
It will be of high quality and environmental friendly, company officials said.
Beijing hosted the Summer Games in 2008. In 2015, it won the bid to co-host the Winter Games with Zhangjiakou in 2022.
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Sao Paulo (AP): Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti raised doubts about whether Neymar will be in his squad for the 2026 World Cup. The Italian has yet to pick the former captain since he took over in May.
“If Neymar deserves to be (in the squad), if he is, well, better than others, he will play in the World Cup and that's it. (But) I don't have debts to anyone,” Ancelotti said at a press conference in Washington on Friday following the draw.
Brazil is in Group C with Morocco, Haiti and Scotland.
“If we speak about Neymar, we have to speak about other players,” Ancelotti added. “We have to think about Brazil with or without Neymar, with or without other players. Our final list we will make after the FIFA fixtures in March.”
The 33-year-old Neymar has never fully recovered from a torn ACL in October 2023 during a World Cup qualifier against Uruguay. But he's been key for Santos in its fight to avoid relegation in the Brazilian championship.
On Wednesday, he scored a hat trick for Santos despite a muscular injury. He is expected to play again on Sunday against Cruzeiro.
Ancelotti said Brazil does not have a “referential player” at the moment, a tag for the most valuable player that Neymar has mainly worn since the 2014 home World Cup.
“We have one of the world's best goalkeepers, some of the best defenders, top midfielders and some players up front. I don't want players who want to be the best in the world, I want players who want to win the World Cup,” Ancelotti said.
Asked about his team's group, Ancelotti said Brazil can top it.
“We can win all three matches, our idea is very clear. We need to be competitive during the entire World Cup. Our goal is to play in the final and for that to happen you need to face very strong teams anyway.”
Brazil won the last of its five World Cup trophies in 2002.
