Ahmed Khalil of Al Ahli shown during an Arbian Gulf League match in February. Photo Courtesy / AGL
Ahmed Khalil of Al Ahli shown during an Arbian Gulf League match in February. Photo Courtesy / AGL
Ahmed Khalil of Al Ahli shown during an Arbian Gulf League match in February. Photo Courtesy / AGL
Ahmed Khalil of Al Ahli shown during an Arbian Gulf League match in February. Photo Courtesy / AGL

Sport

Al Ahli grasping title, Fujairah lead fight to survive: AGL talking points

Amith Passela runs down the major storylines in the UAE top flight ahead of the penultimate round.

Amith Passela
Amith Passela

April 27, 2016

  • English
  • Arabic

Amith Passela runs down the storylines in the UAE top flight ahead of the penultimate round:

The finish line is here

The title race and relegation will almost certainly be decided this week after the penultimate round of the Arabian Gulf League.

Al Ahli need only a draw against Baniyas on Friday to secure the title while four teams – Fujairah, Sharjah, Emirates and Dibba – are locked in a battle to avoid joining relegated Al Shaab.

Fujairah are three points away from safety and defeat to Al Ain tonight would mean curtains.

Another interesting contest that has developed is the teams wrangling to finish behind Ahli and Al Ain for third and fourth to earn a spot in the Asian Champions League play-off.

Al Wahda, Al Nasr, Al Shabab and Al Wasl are battling for the two remaining spots, but Al Dhafra and Baniyas are not mathematically out of that race yet.

Resurgent Al Hosani

Dropped and then overlooked for more than three years from the national team squad, goalkeeper Adel Al Hosani has moved back into the spotlight in recent times for his club Wahda.

He won the Arabian Gulf Cup Final “Star Award” after playing a key role for his club, and has played a huge part to get Wahda to the position they are in.

Al Hosani has also been recalled for the national squad as one of the three stoppers in the recent World Cup qualifiers.

He will have a massive responsibility in the next two AGL matches against Sharjah away tomorrow and the last game at home with Baniyas next week for his club to achieve their objective of finishing in the top four in the league table.

Fight to the end

Fujairah fought like a cornered lion against Al Jazira to keep their slim hopes of avoiding relegation alive.

Can they do it again against Al Ain? Fujairah fans will have to wait for an answer. Eid Baroot, Fujairah’s coach, is confident his team have shown the character to pull another good result.

“We faced Al Jazira – one of the biggest teams in the league – and we managed to win,” he said. “What differentiates Fujairah is our character. We realise that it has come very late, but the players have shown a very positive reaction and are giving all their efforts to score goals and get positive results. This is very important.” ​

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Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.

Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.

Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.

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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.

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