The Dubai Exiles, in red, ran out comfortable winners against Kandy but did not secure the required points to prevent the Abu Dhabi Harlequins from winning the Western Clubs Champions League.  Antonie Robertson / The National
The Dubai Exiles, in red, ran out comfortable winners against Kandy but did not secure the required points to prevent the Abu Dhabi Harlequins from winning the Western Clubs Champions League. AntonieShow more

Dubai Exiles fall short to hand Western Clubs Champions League title to Abu Dhabi Harlequins



DUBAI // Abu Dhabi Harlequins celebrated winning the first trophy of the new season largely in absentia, after Dubai Exiles failed to beat Kandy by the requisite margin in the last match of the Western Clubs Champions League.

The UAE champions needed to beat their Sri Lankan counterparts by at least 40 points to leapfrog Harlequins at the top of the three-team table.

An experimental Exiles side delivered an uncharacteristically error-strewn performance, even though they did claim a 29-9 win at The Sevens, Dubai.

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One representative of the title-winning Abu Dhabi club had made it to the game. Alex Bailey, the club captain, was the nominated Harlequins member in attendance, at the request of the tournament organisers.

Wearing Harlequins club attire, he had appeared somewhat out of place on Exiles territory, at a game not involving his side, and accepted the trophy on the down low, with no pomp or ceremony at all.

He then posed for a quick photograph alongside it with his two small children, solely for the purposes of Harlequins’ website and social media push.

He will be able to celebrate with his team when the trophy is officially presented to them on September 23, when Harlequins start their West Asia Premiership campaign, ironically on the same pitch, against Dubai Hurricanes.

“We always want to win everything we can,” Bailey said. “The Premiership and the Dubai Sevens are our big aims, but you can’t dismiss any trophy, especially with the rivalry between Harlequins and Exiles as it was last season.

“It was nerve-racking watching this game, definitely. After the last 20 minutes, when Exiles turned it on and Kandy looked like they were tiring, I have no nails left.

“We are looking forward to playing Exiles again in three weeks time and I think it is going to be a very interesting season.”

Jacques Benade, the Exiles coach, had talked down the relevance of this competition before it started, but he could not hide his annoyance with the way they played against Kandy.

Exiles scored four tries, and had a 20-point buffer with 12 minutes to go, but they never looked like threatening to rack up the 40-point difference required to take the title.

“I was disappointed with our skill level,” Benade said. “We tried to force it. I think we all knew we had to chase 40 points, and that was in the boys’ minds.

“We didn’t play good rugby. I thought we were very poor and I am not happy at all.

“I think the players let themselves down, not to win the cup, but the way they played. From last week [when they drew 23-23 with Harlequins] we had a backward step.”

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Name: Fareed Lafta

Age: 40

From: Baghdad, Iraq

Mission: Promote world peace

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Role models: His parents 

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Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed 

Rating: 1/5

Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
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Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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hall of shame

SUNDERLAND 2002-03

No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.

SUNDERLAND 2005-06

Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.

HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19

Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.

ASTON VILLA 2015-16

Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.

FULHAM 2018-19

Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.

LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.

BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66

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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.

“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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What are NFTs?

Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.

You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”

However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.

This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”

This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.

Paatal Lok season two

Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy 

Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong

Rating: 4.5/5

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Name: ARDH Collective
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Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
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Director: Sean Baker

Starring: Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince, Willem Dafoe

Four stars

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Name: Lamsa

Founder: Badr Ward

Launched: 2014

Employees: 60

Based: Abu Dhabi

Sector: EdTech

Funding to date: $15 million