Cricket’s fastest format is back with the Abu Dhabi T10's seventh season kicking off with a double-header at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Deccan Gladiators, champions for the past two years, take on New York Strikers on the opening night, followed by the Northern Warriors against Morrisville Samp Army.
Chennai Braves, Delhi Bulls, Bangla Tigers and Team Abu Dhabi are the other teams who will compete in the 12-day tournament.
Tournament format
All teams will feature in a double round-robin league with the top four teams qualifying for the play-offs.
Qualifier 1 sees the top two teams go head-to-head on December 8. The third and fourth-placed teams will play the Eliminator match on the same day.
The winner of the Eliminator will then play the loser of Qualifier 1 for a place in the final. The final will be held on December 9.
Venue
All the matches, including the play-offs, Qualifier 1, the Eliminator and the final, will be played at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.
Match timings
The matches will have different time slots. On double-header days, games will start at 6.15pm local time and the second game will start at 8.30pm. As for the triple-headers, the first match will commence at 4pm, while the second and third matches will start at 6.15pm and 8.30pm, respectively.
On the final day, the match will start at 6pm with the title clash at 7.30pm.
Players to watch
Chennai Braves: Jason Roy, Charith Asalanka, Sikandar Raza and Bhanuka Rajapaksa.
Deccan Gladiators: Nicholas Pooran, Trent Boult, Andre Russell, Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Fabian Allen.
Delhi Bulls: Quinton de Kock, Rovman Powell, Dwayne Bravo, Rilee Rossouw.
Morrisville Samp Army: Faf du Plessis, Jason Holder, Moeen Ali, Maheesh Theekshana.
Northern Warriors: Wanindu Hasaranga, James Neesham, Hazratullah Zazai, Tabraiz Shamsi.
New York Strikers: Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Mohammad Amir, Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
Team Abu Dhabi: Kyle Mayers, Dwaine Pretorius, Alex Hales, Roelof van der Merwe.
Bangla Tigers: Shakib Al Hasan, Dominic Drakes, Carlos Brathwaite, Robin Uthappa.
Fixtures:
Tuesday, 6pm: Deccan Gladiators v New York Strikers; 8.30pm: Northern Warriors v Morrisville Samp Army
Wednesday, 3.30pm: Delhi Bulls v Deccan Gladiators; 6pm: Team Abu Dhabi v Chennai Braves; 8.30pm: Bangla Tigers v New York Strikers.
Thursday, 3.30pm: Team Abu Dhabi v Northern Warriors; 6pm: Morrisville Samp Army v Chennai Braves; 8.30pm: Deccan Gladiators v Bangla Tigers.
Friday. 3.30pm: Northern Warriors v New York Strikers; 6pm: Morrisville Samp Army v Team Abu Dhabi; 8.30pm: Chennai Braves v Delhi Bulls.
Saturday, 3.30pm: Deccan Gladiators v Team Abu Dhabi; 6pm: Delhi Bulls v Bangla Tigers; 8.30pm: Chennai Braves v Northern Warriors.
Sunday, 3.30pm: Morrisville Samp Army v Delhi Bulls; 6pm: Northern Warriors v Bangla Tigers; 8.30pm: Deccan Gladiators v Chennai Braves.
December 4, 6pm: Delhi Bulls v New York Strikers; 8.30pm: Team Abu Dhabi v Bangla Tigers
December 5, 3.30pm: Bangla Tigers v Morrisville Samp Army; 6pm: Deccan Gladiators v Northern Warriors; 8.30pm: Team Abu Dhabi v New York Strikers
December 6, 3.30pm: Chennai Braves v New York Strikers; 6pm: Deccan Gladiators v Morrisville Samp Army; 8.30pm: Delhi Bulls v Northern Warriors
December 7, 3.30pm: Bangla Tigers v Chennai Braves; 6pm: Team Abu Dhabi v Delhi Bulls; 8.30pm: New York Strikers v Morrisville Samp Army
December 8, 3.30pm: Qualifier 1; 6pm: Eliminator; 8.30pm: Qualifier 2
December 9, 7.30pm: Final
The specs
Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder and 3.6-litre 6-cylinder
Power: 220 and 280 horsepower
Torque: 350 and 360Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh136,521 VAT and Dh166,464 VAT
On sale: now
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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
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
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Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
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The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
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Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
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.
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“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.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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The permutations for UAE going to the 2018 World Cup finals
To qualify automatically
UAE must beat Iraq.
Australia must lose in Japan and at home to Thailand, with their losing margins and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
Saudi Arabia must lose to Japan, with their losing margin and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
To finish third and go into a play-off with the other third-placed AFC side for a chance to reach the inter-confederation play-off match
UAE must beat Iraq.
Saudi Arabia must lose to Japan, with their losing margin and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
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When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
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Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?
The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.
He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.
