Formed less than 10 months ago, Dubai Basketball have already forged a formidable winning mentality.
The team just finished a memorable debut regular season, with their impressive 25-5 record good enough for third place in the Adriatic Basketball Association (ABA) League.
They now enter the play-offs riding a 13-match winning streak and fuelled by a potent mix of confidence and ambition.
They host the Slovenian club Cedevita Olimpija in Game 1 of a best-of-three quarter-final series at the Coca-Cola Arena on Sunday.
Game 2 lands in Ljubljana next Friday, with the decider – if needed – slated for the UAE thanks to Dubai's superior league position.
The teams split their regular season meetings one apiece, with Dubai making an early statement of intent on the road last September before an agonising single-point home court reverse in January.
That was the last time they tasted defeat and their Slovenian head coach Jurica Golemac has faith the team will gain revenge on his compatriots this weekend.
“This game is the most important and the toughest one so far. We just need to be confident and do what we have been doing in the last 10 months,” the 47-year-old Golemac, himself a former Cedevita Olimpija coach, told The National.
“We have managed to come to the end of the regular season. Of course we are satisfied with the results that we have achieved with this brand new team, that we assembled last August.
“We have been together for less than 10 months, so reaching the play-off is indeed an achievement by itself. It's a new challenge for us now; we are not giving up, we are not satisfied with this, what we did until now. We are a very ambitious side.
“We want to show everybody the results we have in the regular season … We can achieve a better one in the play-offs. We are healthy, we are full of ambitions, full of confidence, and with our fans behind us, we are ready to achieve great things.”
It's hard to know what is more impressive – the results Dubai have achieved on the court or the fan base they have built up in such a short space of time.
Around 4,500 fans flocked to the Coca-Cola Arena last weekend to see them close the regular season with an emphatic win over Montenegrin outfit Buducnost.
Klemen Prepelic, the captain and playmaker who was instrumental in assembling a cosmopolitan squad with nine different nations represented, says they have been able to foster an incredible team spirit and chemistry despite the roster being somewhat thrown together.
“I believe with this winning mentality, with the confidence that we gained in the last couple of months, we are going to be more than ready,” said Slovenian international Prepelic.
“This is the most important game of the season. It's the first game of the play-offs. We are going to make 120 per cent effort to keep the advantage. I believe it's all about us.
“I know these guys from Olympija. Some of them are my friends from the national team. I played there last year; I know the environment of the club.
“It's all about us. You have to show yourself, be the best version of yourself, first individual, then as a team, and if we're going to do the things properly and be with the right mindset and energy, I believe that we're going to come out with the win.”
Aside from leading the side, the shooting guard, 32, has contributed immensely to building Dubai Basketball through his contacts and relationships with other players.
“To build such a chemistry in such an environment in such a short period of time is incredible, and I want to give all the credit to the guys and especially to the owner [Abdullah Saeed Al Naboodah], the GM [Dejan Kamenjasevic] and the coach,” he added.
Dubai's former NBA star Davis Bertans noted that the biggest change he felt since arriving is in the team’s togetherness and the winning culture they have created.
The Latvian, who moved out from the NBA having represented teams such as Washington Wizards, Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder, was humble in expressing himself as just another player in the squad.
“I don't usually look at myself as a star player. I'm part of the team. I'm really dependent on my teammates. I'm a shooter. I'm not a guy that's going to create much for myself,” the power-forward said.
“My teammates have been able to find me in great positions so that's the biggest part. I think that's why we succeed as a team, not a single guy on the team thinks that he's a star player and he has to go out there and take care of it every night.”
Of the game against Olimpija, he added: “It’s the first game in the play-offs, we've got to come out with a lot of energy, got to focus on how we're going to play, we don't have to worry about how they're going to play.
“It's all about what we do on the court and not to worry about how they're going to play. It's all about what we do on the court and if we play our best basketball, the win's going to come.”
Who are the Soroptimists?
The first Soroptimists club was founded in Oakland, California in 1921. The name comes from the Latin word soror which means sister, combined with optima, meaning the best.
The organisation said its name is best interpreted as ‘the best for women’.
Since then the group has grown exponentially around the world and is officially affiliated with the United Nations. The organisation also counts Queen Mathilde of Belgium among its ranks.
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BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
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Queens of the Stone Age
Matador
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
UK's plans to cut net migration
Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.
Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.
Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.
The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.
Global institutions: BlackRock and KKR
US-based BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with $5.98 trillion of assets under management as of the end of last year. The New York firm run by Larry Fink provides investment management services to institutional clients and retail investors including governments, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, banks and charitable foundations around the world, through a variety of investment vehicles.
KKR & Co, or Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, is a global private equity and investment firm with around $195 billion of assets as of the end of last year. The New York-based firm, founded by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, invests in multiple alternative asset classes through direct or fund-to-fund investments with a particular focus on infrastructure, technology, healthcare, real estate and energy.
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