The standard of domestic football in the UAE increased its stockpile of credibility yesterday when it emerged that the Brazil striker Rafael Sobis is likely to be joined by Morocco's Merouane Zemmama in the country's new professional league.
Sobis, who has won 10 caps and a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympic Games, arrived in Abu Dhabi yesterday morning to finalise his Dh65m move from Spanish side Real Betis. He is understood to have passed a medical yesterday.
The Betis sporting director Manolo Momparlet said no transfer had been agreed yesterday, despite Sobis's arrival in the UAE.
He is expected to sign a five-year contract with Jazira, and could train with his new teammates for the first time tonight.
Sobis joins Fernando Baiano in the Jazira squad after being enticed to the club by their Brazilian head coach Abel Braga, who coached the player at Internacional before Sobis joined Betis.
Baiano scored as Al Jazira beat Bani Yas 3-2 in a low-key friendly on Wednesday.
As Sobis arrived in Abu Dhabi, it also emerged that the young Moroccan attacking midfielder Zemmama is on his way to Sharjah to play for Al Shaab.
Zemmama, 24, has been granted a year's loan by the Scottish Premier League club Hibernian on compassionate grounds after his pregnant wife was refused a visa to the UK due to her age.
The player's wife, Zineb, is 17, but will be 18 when his agreement with Al Shaab expires, allowing him to return to Hibs, where he has three years left of his present contract.
A Hibernian spokesman has confirmed that a deal has been agreed with Al Shaab.
"I am grateful to the manager and the board for what they are doing," Zemmama told the club's website.
"I will give everyone my personal thanks on Monday. I know as well the support that is there for me from the Hibs fans.
"They have always been very good to me since I first came to Hibernian, and now they are being very understanding of my situation and we are both very grateful for the best wishes they are sending."
Zemmama has been a prominent figure for Hibernian over the past two years, playing 52 times and scoring eight goals.
He was suspended from playing for his country for two years after joining Hibs from Raja Casablanca in 2006.
Casablanca lodged a complaint with Fifa over the legality of the contract but, despite the transfer being ratified, the ban was enforced.
The Hibernian manager Mixu Paatelainen hopes Zemmama can improve during his time in the UAE league.
He said: "Merouane has three years of his contract to run with us but, because of his family situation, we did feel it best to allow him to move out on loan. We want to support our players on and off the field, and the situation Zouma finds himself in is quite a difficult one.
"It will be a chance for him to stay with his family and hopefully he and his family will come to Edinburgh later. I would of course rather have kept him here because he is a big player for us and a good footballer, but this I think is the best answer for everyone."
UAE clubs have not been slow in signing a higher calibre of player over the close season with Mohammed Kallon also joining Shaab, and the Chilean striker Jorge Luis Valdivia has agreed a contract with Al Ain.
But Al Ain have released the Gambian striker Osman Jalo, who will relaunch his career in Europe with the Danish side Brondby.
@Email:dkane@thenational.ae
If you go
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Seattle from Dh5,555 return, including taxes. Portland is a 260 km drive from Seattle and Emirates offers codeshare flights to Portland with its partner Alaska Airlines.
The car
Hertz (www.hertz.ae) offers compact car rental from about $300 per week, including taxes. Emirates Skywards members can earn points on their car hire through Hertz.
Parks and accommodation
For information on Crater Lake National Park, visit www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm . Because of the altitude, large parts of the park are closed in winter due to snow. While the park’s summer season is May 22-October 31, typically, the full loop of the Rim Drive is only possible from late July until the end of October. Entry costs $25 per car for a day. For accommodation, see www.travelcraterlake.com. For information on Umpqua Hot Springs, see www.fs.usda.gov and https://soakoregon.com/umpqua-hot-springs/. For Bend, see https://www.visitbend.com/.
RESULTS - ELITE MEN
1. Henri Schoeman (RSA) 57:03
2. Mario Mola (ESP) 57:09
3. Vincent Luis (FRA) 57:25
4. Leo Bergere (FRA)57:34
5. Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS) 57:40
6. Joao Silva (POR) 57:45
7. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 57:56
8. Adrien Briffod (SUI) 57:57
9. Gustav Iden (NOR) 57:58
10. Richard Murray (RSA) 57:59
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc
Tailors and retailers miss out on back-to-school rush
Tailors and retailers across the city said it was an ominous start to what is usually a busy season for sales.
With many parents opting to continue home learning for their children, the usual rush to buy school uniforms was muted this year.
“So far we have taken about 70 to 80 orders for items like shirts and trousers,” said Vikram Attrai, manager at Stallion Bespoke Tailors in Dubai.
“Last year in the same period we had about 200 orders and lots of demand.
“We custom fit uniform pieces and use materials such as cotton, wool and cashmere.
“Depending on size, a white shirt with logo is priced at about Dh100 to Dh150 and shorts, trousers, skirts and dresses cost between Dh150 to Dh250 a piece.”
A spokesman for Threads, a uniform shop based in Times Square Centre Dubai, said customer footfall had slowed down dramatically over the past few months.
“Now parents have the option to keep children doing online learning they don’t need uniforms so it has quietened down.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Price, base / as tested Dh960,000
Engine 3.9L twin-turbo V8
Transmission Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic
Power 661hp @8,000rpm
Torque 760Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.4L / 100k
Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community
• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style
“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.
Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term.
From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”
• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International
"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed. Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."
• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."
• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com
"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.
His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.
Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."
• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher
"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen. He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”
• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."
Illegal shipments intercepted in Gulf region
The Royal Navy raid is the latest in a series of successful interceptions of drugs and arms in the Gulf
May 11: US coastguard recovers $80 million heroin haul from fishing vessel in Gulf of Oman
May 8: US coastguard vessel USCGC Glen Harris seizes heroin and meth worth more than $30 million from a fishing boat
March 2: Anti-tank guided missiles and missile components seized by HMS Lancaster from a small boat travelling from Iran
October 9, 2022: Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose recovers drugs worth $17.8 million from a dhow in Arabian Sea
September 27, 2022: US Naval Forces Central Command reports a find of 2.4 tonnes of heroin on board fishing boat in Gulf of Oman
