• Manchester City's Norwegian striker Erling Haaland holds the European Cup. AFP
    Manchester City's Norwegian striker Erling Haaland holds the European Cup. AFP
  • The team buses pass through the fans in the streets. PA
    The team buses pass through the fans in the streets. PA
  • Manchester City's Phil Foden with the Champions League trophy, Aymeric Laporte with the Emirates FA Cup and Ruben Dias with the Premier League trophy. PA
    Manchester City's Phil Foden with the Champions League trophy, Aymeric Laporte with the Emirates FA Cup and Ruben Dias with the Premier League trophy. PA
  • Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola celebrates during the treble parade. PA
    Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola celebrates during the treble parade. PA
  • Manchester City's Phil Foden with the Champions League trophy. PA
    Manchester City's Phil Foden with the Champions League trophy. PA
  • Manchester City's Phil Foden with the Champions League trophy, Aymeric Laporte with the Emirates FA Cup and Ruben Dias with the Premier League trophy. PA
    Manchester City's Phil Foden with the Champions League trophy, Aymeric Laporte with the Emirates FA Cup and Ruben Dias with the Premier League trophy. PA
  • Manchester City's Kalvin Phillips, left, with the FA Cup, Phil Foden with the Champions League trophy, and Bernardo Silva, right, with the Premier League trophy during the parade in Manchester to celebrate the club winning the treble. PA
    Manchester City's Kalvin Phillips, left, with the FA Cup, Phil Foden with the Champions League trophy, and Bernardo Silva, right, with the Premier League trophy during the parade in Manchester to celebrate the club winning the treble. PA
  • The trophy parade is cheered by Manchester City fans as it passes through the streets of Manchester. AP
    The trophy parade is cheered by Manchester City fans as it passes through the streets of Manchester. AP
  • Fans take photos as the Manchester City bus passes through Manchester. Reuters
    Fans take photos as the Manchester City bus passes through Manchester. Reuters
  • Manchester City's Bernardo Silva lifts the Premier League trophy. PA
    Manchester City's Bernardo Silva lifts the Premier League trophy. PA
  • Manchester City's Phil Foden with the Champions League trophy. PA
    Manchester City's Phil Foden with the Champions League trophy. PA
  • Manchester City fans take shelter from the rain ahead of the parade. PA
    Manchester City fans take shelter from the rain ahead of the parade. PA
  • A City fan climbs a traffic light to get a better view. Reuters
    A City fan climbs a traffic light to get a better view. Reuters
  • City fans wait for the parade. PA
    City fans wait for the parade. PA
  • Manchester City fans in the rain during the parade. PA
    Manchester City fans in the rain during the parade. PA
  • A City fan with an inflatable Erling Haaland doll. PA
    A City fan with an inflatable Erling Haaland doll. PA
  • City fans line the streets of Manchester before the trophy parade. Getty
    City fans line the streets of Manchester before the trophy parade. Getty
  • A street vendor with Champions League trophy balloons ahead of the treble parade. PA
    A street vendor with Champions League trophy balloons ahead of the treble parade. PA
  • A Manchester City fan looks upwards towards the rain clouds as the parade is delayed due to bad weather. Reuters
    A Manchester City fan looks upwards towards the rain clouds as the parade is delayed due to bad weather. Reuters
  • A fan with an inflatable Jack Grealish doll. PA
    A fan with an inflatable Jack Grealish doll. PA
  • City fans try to shelter from the rain. Reuters
    City fans try to shelter from the rain. Reuters

Manchester City named most valuable brand in world football after posting record profits


  • English
  • Arabic

Manchester City's historic success on the pitch has been matched on the balance sheet after the Premier League club announced record revenue and profits in their annual report for the 2022/23 season.

City earned revenues of £712.8 million ($889.4 million) to June 2023 according to Manchester City FC Ltd's annual report, an increase of £99.8 million (16.3%) over the previous season, along with a record net profit of £80.4 million.

"The 2022/23 season saw Manchester City scale new heights and set new benchmarks," City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said in a statement. "In short, last season saw Manchester City achieve the greatest football and commercial year of its storied history."

City experienced growth over the previous year across all revenue streams of commercial, matchday and broadcasting.

Commercial revenues accounted for £341.4 million, followed by broadcast at £299.4 million and then matchday at £71.9 million, for a profit of £80.4 million, nearly doubling the previous year's record profit of £41.7 million.

Matchday revenue saw an increase of £17.4 million (32%) with a 99 per cent occupancy rate at the Etihad Stadium and four more home games played across all competitions. However, the average attendance of 53,249 fans over 19 Premier League games was just shy of their record of 54,130 set in 2018/19.

Broadcasting revenues climbed by £50.4 million over the previous year (20.2%), primarily due to the club reaching and winning the Champions League and FA Cup finals.

Profits also benefited from significant transfer business with £121.7 million generated from player sales, up a significant 79.8 per cent over the previous 12 months.

City earned top spot on the Brand Finance Football 50 list with a brand value of £1.51 billion, passing La Liga side Real Madrid (£1.46 billion). Manchester United were fourth at £1.36 billion.

It marked the first time an English club had earned the top spot since 2018 with the report citing City's decade of dominance on the pitch and the highest revenue of any of the clubs in the report as key reasons for their rise in the rankings.

City also topped the Deloitte Football Money League for the second consecutive year with the biggest revenues of any European football club, ahead of runners-up Real Madrid.

On the pitch, manager Pep Guardiola guided City to a third successive Premier League title, an enthralling 2-1 FA Cup final victory over rivals Manchester United, and a first Champions League title.

The women's team finished fourth in the Women's Super League (WSL), but saw average attendance climb to 3,555, up 84 per cent over the 2021/22 season.

City have been majority-owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court, since August 2008. In that time, the club has been transformed from the second-best team in Manchester to now the most valuable football club in the world.

Opening Rugby Championship fixtures:Games can be watched on OSN Sports
Saturday: Australia v New Zealand, Sydney, 1pm (UAE)
Sunday: South Africa v Argentina, Port Elizabeth, 11pm (UAE)

No_One Ever Really Dies

N*E*R*D

(I Am Other/Columbia)

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As You Were

Liam Gallagher

(Warner Bros)

Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJune%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohammed%20Alnamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMicrofinance%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E16%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFamily%20offices%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Another way to earn air miles

In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.

An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.

“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.

The Bio

Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity

Infiniti QX80 specs

Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6

Power: 450hp

Torque: 700Nm

Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000

Available: Now

The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol

Power: 154bhp

Torque: 250Nm

Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option 

Price: From Dh79,600

On sale: Now

The specs

Common to all models unless otherwise stated

Engine: 4-cylinder 2-litre T-GDi

0-100kph: 5.3 seconds (Elantra); 5.5 seconds (Kona); 6.1 seconds (Veloster)

Power: 276hp

Torque: 392Nm

Transmission: 6-Speed Manual/ 8-Speed Dual Clutch FWD

Price: TBC

Citizenship-by-investment programmes

United Kingdom

The UK offers three programmes for residency. The UK Overseas Business Representative Visa lets you open an overseas branch office of your existing company in the country at no extra investment. For the UK Tier 1 Innovator Visa, you are required to invest £50,000 (Dh238,000) into a business. You can also get a UK Tier 1 Investor Visa if you invest £2 million, £5m or £10m (the higher the investment, the sooner you obtain your permanent residency).

All UK residency visas get approved in 90 to 120 days and are valid for 3 years. After 3 years, the applicant can apply for extension of another 2 years. Once they have lived in the UK for a minimum of 6 months every year, they are eligible to apply for permanent residency (called Indefinite Leave to Remain). After one year of ILR, the applicant can apply for UK passport.

The Caribbean

Depending on the country, the investment amount starts from $100,000 (Dh367,250) and can go up to $400,000 in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take between four to five months to receive a passport. 

Portugal

The investment amount ranges from €350,000 to €500,000 (Dh1.5m to Dh2.16m) in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take a maximum of six months to receive a Golden Visa. Applicants can apply for permanent residency after five years and Portuguese citizenship after six years.

“Among European countries with residency programmes, Portugal has been the most popular because it offers the most cost-effective programme to eventually acquire citizenship of the European Union without ever residing in Portugal,” states Veronica Cotdemiey of Citizenship Invest.

Greece

The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Greece is €250,000, making it the cheapest real estate residency visa scheme in Europe. You can apply for residency in four months and citizenship after seven years.

Spain

The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Spain is €500,000. You can apply for permanent residency after five years and citizenship after 10 years. It is not necessary to live in Spain to retain and renew the residency visa permit.

Cyprus

Cyprus offers the quickest route to citizenship of a European country in only six months. An investment of €2m in real estate is required, making it the highest priced programme in Europe.

Malta

The Malta citizenship by investment programme is lengthy and investors are required to contribute sums as donations to the Maltese government. The applicant must either contribute at least €650,000 to the National Development & Social Fund. Spouses and children are required to contribute €25,000; unmarried children between 18 and 25 and dependent parents must contribute €50,000 each.

The second step is to make an investment in property of at least €350,000 or enter a property rental contract for at least €16,000 per annum for five years. The third step is to invest at least €150,000 in bonds or shares approved by the Maltese government to be kept for at least five years.

Candidates must commit to a minimum physical presence in Malta before citizenship is granted. While you get residency in two months, you can apply for citizenship after a year.

Egypt 

A one-year residency permit can be bought if you purchase property in Egypt worth $100,000. A three-year residency is available for those who invest $200,000 in property, and five years for those who purchase property worth $400,000.

Source: Citizenship Invest and Aqua Properties

Results
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Zakat definitions

Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.

Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.

Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.

Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.

 

 

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History's medical milestones

1799 - First small pox vaccine administered

1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery

1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases

1895 - Discovery of x-rays

1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time

1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin

1953 - Structure of DNA discovered

1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place 

1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill

1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.

1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out

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

BULKWHIZ PROFILE

Date started: February 2017

Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: E-commerce 

Size: 50 employees

Funding: approximately $6m

Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait

Game Changer

Director: Shankar 

Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram

Rating: 2/5

Updated: November 15, 2023, 5:57 AM