Uruguay's goalkeeper Fernando Muslera holds onto the Jabulaini World Cup ball during yesterday's second round match with South Korea.
Uruguay's goalkeeper Fernando Muslera holds onto the Jabulaini World Cup ball during yesterday's second round match with South Korea.

Fifa to look at problem ball after tournament



JOHANNESBURG // Fifa have finally acknowledged that there may be something wrong with the Jabulani World Cup ball, but will not act on the problem until after the tournament. Many players have likened the Jabulani to a "supermarket ball", saying it is unpredictable and cuts through the air too easily.

"We're not deaf," Jerome Valcke. the Fifa secretary general, said yesterday at a news conference. "Fifa is not unreceptive about what has been said about the ball." Valcke said that Fifa will discuss the matter with coaches and teams after the World Cup, then meet with Adidas, the manufacturer. "There are rules for size and weight ? But the ball has to be perfect," Valcke said. Goalkeepers have complained about the ball at every recent World Cup, although this time forwards and even coaches have added their laments.

Dunga, the Brazil manager, got into a spat with Valcke over the Jabulani before the tournament, challenging the Fifa executive to come out onto the pitch and attempt to control it. Goalkeepers such as Spain's Iker Casillas and Italy's Gianluigi Buffon have criticised it, too, along with many outfield players. The Jabulani could create even more problems in the knockout stages which started yesterday, since games could be decided by penalty shootouts.

"The balls have changed over the last couple of years, they have become a lot faster and in addition to that in Johannesburg we are playing at an altitude of 1,700 meters, which makes the ball even faster," Oliver Kahn, the former Germany goalkeeper, said. "Thus, the goalkeepers work even harder, but I don't think that we can take the ball or the altitude as excuses." Adidas has made the World Cup ball since 1970, with a contract until 2014.

The German company has defended the Jabulani, saying it does not know what the fuss is about because all the qualified teams were given the ball before the tournament to test it. "There's a lot of talk about stadiums, infrastructure and TV and that's nice and all, but first we've got to worry about balls, spikes and jerseys," Buffon said. "I don't see why we can't just go back to the old black-and-white checkered version we all played with as kids."

As for the aesthetics, Valcke said that the ball had been criticised in the past as too colourful, and that's why this version is whiter. * AP

Sri Lanka Test squad:

Dimuth Karunaratne (stand-in captain), Niroshan Dickwella (vice captain), Lahiru Thirimanne, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Janith Perera, Milinda Siriwardana, Dhananjaya de Silva, Oshada Fernando, Angelo Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Kasun Rajitha, Vishwa Fernando, Chamika Karunaratne, Mohamed Shiraz, Lakshan Sandakan and Lasith Embuldeniya.

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.”

Profile of Tarabut Gateway

Founder: Abdulla Almoayed

Based: UAE

Founded: 2017

Number of employees: 35

Sector: FinTech

Raised: $13 million

Backers: Berlin-based venture capital company Target Global, Kingsway, CE Ventures, Entrée Capital, Zamil Investment Group, Global Ventures, Almoayed Technologies and Mad’a Investment.

THE DETAILS

Kaala

Dir: Pa. Ranjith

Starring: Rajinikanth, Huma Qureshi, Easwari Rao, Nana Patekar  

Rating: 1.5/5 

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

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