The Abu Dhabi Wildcats opened their EAFl season with victory against Al Ain Foxes. Sammy Dallal / The National
The Abu Dhabi Wildcats opened their EAFl season with victory against Al Ain Foxes. Sammy Dallal / The National

Sport

Abu Dhabi Wildcats cruise past Al Ain Foxes in Emirates American Football League

The first full weekend of the Emirates American Football League (EAFL) regular season kicked off on Friday afternoon at The Sevens in Dubai with all four league teams in action, reports Ali Khaled.

Ali Khaled

13 December, 2015

The first full weekend of the Emirates American Football League (EAFL) regular season kicked off on Friday afternoon at The Sevens in Dubai with all four league teams in action.

Abu Dhabi Wildcats 21 Al Ain Desert Foxes 0

In the evening match, the Abu Dhabi Wildcats beat a depleted Al Ain Desert Foxes squad just two weeks after losing to the Barracudas in the Turkey Bowl.

“All offseason, I’ve been preaching about brotherhood and my guys showed that today,” Abu Dhabi coach Tony Robinson said. “After our opening-day loss, we just had to get back to executing. I couldn’t be happier. It’s early days, but this is the type of spirit that could take us on to greater things.”

Read more: American Tony Robinson brings 'football culture' to Emirates American Football League gridiron

The Wildcats were almost at full strength and running back Vivaldi Tulysse scored a touchdown and was a constant threat all evening.

“We know we have a lot of work to do. Today was about trying to manufacture good field position,” new Foxes coach Johnny Sharp said.

“We’ve worked our receivers and quarterbacks a lot in the offseason and I know that will pay dividends as the season progresses.”

Dubai Barracudas 6 Dubai Stallions 6

The repeat of last season's Desert Bowl failed to live up to expectations in the early afternoon sun at The Sevens, with both teams guilty of a catalogue of errors across all four quarters, ending in a rare tie.

“It was sloppy football, both teams didn’t play their best this afternoon,” Dubai Barracudas coach said. “I’m not happy with the way we did things, we had a lot of turnovers and missed tackles, and were unable to establish the run.”

The Barracudas took an early lead when a fumble recovery deep in the Stallions territory set up a touchdown run from quarterback Jan Pavlik. Pavlik stood in for regular starter Zavier Cobb, who was away in the United States coaching the EAFL Falcons’ youth team.

“Jan did the best he could and stepped up, making some nice throws. But he also had some that he wishes he could have back,” Jordan said. “We’ll get better.”

Read more: Emirates American Football League regular season kicks off Friday in Dubai

The Stallions, winners of the 2015 Desert Bowl, came back with a quarterback scramble of their own. Rani Zahr found just enough room to tie the score. Both teams missed their conversions.

Dubai Stallions coach Anthony Daniels was the happier of the coaches.

“Defensively, I think we played great. We only gave up one touchdown,” he said. “On offense, we kept moving the ball but kept hurting ourselves. Penalties and turnovers kept killing drives.”

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

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