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This week, one of the greatest sporting competitions on planet earth came to an end. The FIFA World Cup 2022 ended in a thrilling contest between Argentina and France.
La Albiceleste – the nickname for Argentina’s national football team – won the tournament after defeating France in a penalty shootout. Many will remember the match for years as the fierce battle between the soon-to-retire Lionel Messi and possible future Ballon d’Or winner Kylian Mbappé.
That said, this edition of the World Cup also saw a number of controversies, which began even before the tournament started. Even the final match was riddled with several contentious moments.
People debated whether there was no foul play in the build-up to Argentina’s first penalty goal, whether Nicolas Otamendi’s push – which led to France’s first goal – deserved a red card, and whether Lautaro Martinez was offside when Argentina struck their third goal.
Argentina’s goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez even threw the ball away from the penalty spot prior to the third penalty kick in the shootout, which may have played a part in Aurelien Tchouameni missing the target.
Speaking about something controversial, in our first Big Story, my colleagues Nikita and Collin, shine a spotlight on Temasek-backed Halodoc. The Indonesian healthtech firm listed medicines that were forbidden to be sold online, according to the country’s food and drug authority. They found that there are at least 11 prohibited drugs on the platform and there was little to no oversight in buying prescription drugs.
In the second Big Story, I explore the Indonesian agritech sector, which this year attracted more than double the investments it drew last year.
Back to the World Cup, FIFA has awarded Argentina’s Lionel Messi, Emiliano Martinez, and Enzo Fernandez the Golden Ball, Golden Glove, and Young Player Award, respectively. Meanwhile, France’s superstar Kylian Mbappé won the Golden Boot Award as the player with the most goals in the tournament.
Inspired by that, I’ve also highlighted 10 articles that drew the most interest from our readers this year.
By the way, we’re taking a break for the next two weeks, so this is our final On The Rise newsletter for this year. Here’s wishing you all a joyful Christmas and a wonderful New Year.
We’ll be back on January 10 next year.
— Aditya
THE BIG STORIES
1️⃣ Temasek-backed Halodoc enabled sale of restricted drugs
TOP 10 STORIES OF 2022
FYI
NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW
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