Khalifa Saif Al Muhairibi, second from left, will complete the takeover in the next couple of months.
Khalifa Saif Al Muhairibi, second from left, will complete the takeover in the next couple of months.

Emirati businessman takes over German football club



ABU DHABI // Khalifa Saif Al Muhairibi, a young Emirati businessman, is set to take over SpVgg Unterhaching, the Liga 3 club in Germany.

Al Muhairibi, the chairman of Arabian Gulf Investments and Anton Schrobenhauser, the chief financial officer, announced the deal would be completed in two months after their first round of talks yesterday.

"The decision is already made and now it is a matter of completing the formalities of the take-over," said Al Muhairibi.

"We will travel to the club shortly and hopefully complete the ownership change under the Arabian Gulf Investments in two months.

"The club has a very rich history and tradition. They have also played in the Bundesliga, and our long-term objective would be to try and get them to those glory days."

Schrobenhauser says a change of the ownership will bring in new ideas and improvements to the club.

"I am extremely delighted with how things have moved about so swiftly," said the former goalkeeper in the Bundasliga.

"The club has had some success in the past and I would like to think under a new ownership they can move forward with new ideas and investments."

Unterhaching established in 1925 is located in the southern outskirts of the Bavarian capital Munich. They played in the Bundesliga alongside their more famous neighbours Bayern Munich and 1860 Munich for two seasons between 1999 and 2001.

Juvenile arthritis

Along with doctors, families and teachers can help pick up cases of arthritis in children.
Most types of childhood arthritis are known as juvenile idiopathic arthritis. JIA causes pain and inflammation in one or more joints for at least six weeks.
Dr Betina Rogalski said "The younger the child the more difficult it into pick up the symptoms. If the child is small, it may just be a bit grumpy or pull its leg a way or not feel like walking,” she said.
According to The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases in US, the most common symptoms of juvenile arthritis are joint swelling, pain, and stiffness that doesn’t go away. Usually it affects the knees, hands, and feet, and it’s worse in the morning or after a nap.
Limping in the morning because of a stiff knee, excessive clumsiness, having a high fever and skin rash are other symptoms. Children may also have swelling in lymph nodes in the neck and other parts of the body.
Arthritis in children can cause eye inflammation and growth problems and can cause bones and joints to grow unevenly.
In the UK, about 15,000 children and young people are affected by arthritis.


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