Real Madrid captain Nacho is convinced former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo's impact on football in Saudi Arabia will help transform the Saudi Pro League into one of the best leagues in the world.
Ronaldo, one of the greatest and most famous footballers in history, blazed a trail to the Saudi Pro League (SPL) last January when he signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Riyadh giants Al Nassr.
Since the 38-year-old Portuguese superstar arrived in the kingdom 12 months ago, the SPL has undergone a remarkable and ambitious transformation; backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which took majority control of the league's four biggest clubs, many high-profile players have made their way to Saudi.
Among the arrivals, Ronaldo has been joined at Nassr by former Liverpool and Bayern Munich forward Sadio Mane and ex-Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte, runaway league leaders Al Hilal recruited Brazilian star Neymar and Portuguese midfielder Ruben Neves, champions Al Ittihad signed then Ballon d'Or holder Karim Benzema, and Al Ahli recruited Algerian forward Riyad Mahrez and former Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino.
Such emphasis on recruiting established stars is part of a wider plan to turn the SPL into one of the top five leagues in the world, as the SPL's director of football Michael Emenalo told The National.
The presence of Ronaldo, as both player and ambassador for the league, has been vital to increasing the SPL's profile, and Nacho believes Real Madrid's record goalscorer's impact has been "very clear".
“Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest players in the history of the world," Nacho said ahead of Real Madrid's Spanish Super Cup final against rivals Barcelona in Riyadh.
"He was my teammate at Real Madrid, and his impact is huge wherever he plays. His impact on the Saudi League was very clear after he came, and many of the world's best players followed to the kingdom. The Saudi League in the coming years will be one of the best leagues.”
The new-look Spanish Super Cup, now involving four teams in a knockout format instead of the traditional one-off game, has been held in Saudi Arabia since January 2020 after a long-term deal was agreed between the Royal Spanish Football Federation and the kingdom. The only exception was in January 2021 due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Real Madrid, winner of two of the three Super Cups held in Saudi, advanced to the final by beating city rivals Atletico Madrid 5-3 after extra time and will meet Barcelona in Sunday night's final.
It presents an opportunity for revenge for Real, who were defeated 3-1 by Barca in last year's Super Cup final, and Nacho is confident his side will emerge from Al-Awwal Park victorious.
"[It] will be a very important day for us to win a new championship," the 33-year-old defender said. "We need this championship, and what happened last season is in the past. We have a perfect lineup, we are leading the league, and we are performing well in the Champions League, so we have no excuse not to win this championship tomorrow.
“We must give everything to win this championship. Barca is very strong as always, and history tells us this. It will be a strong blow if we lose the first championship of the season.”
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
Zimbabwe v UAE, ODI series
All matches at the Harare Sports Club:
1st ODI, Wednesday, April 10
2nd ODI, Friday, April 12
3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14
4th ODI, Tuesday, April 16
UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
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- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
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The specs
Engine: 5.2-litre V10
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Torque: 565Nm at 6,500rpm
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto
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On sale: Q3 or Q4 2022
Story of 2017-18 so far and schedule to come
Roll of Honour
Who has won what so far in the West Asia rugby season?
Western Clubs Champions League
Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Runners up: Bahrain
Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Jebel Ali Dragons
West Asia Premiership
Winners: Jebel Ali Dragons
Runners up: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Premiership Cup
Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Runners up: Dubai Exiles
Fixtures
Friday
West Asia Cup final
5pm, Bahrain (6pm UAE time), Bahrain v Dubai Exiles
West Asia Trophy final
3pm, The Sevens, Dubai Hurricanes v Dubai Sports City Eagles
Friday, April 13
UAE Premiership final
5pm, Al Ain, Dubai Exiles v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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
Company name: Jaib
Started: January 2018
Co-founders: Fouad Jeryes and Sinan Taifour
Based: Jordan
Sector: FinTech
Total transactions: over $800,000 since January, 2018
Investors in Jaib's mother company Alpha Apps: Aramex and 500 Startups
McLaren GT specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 630Nm
Price: Dh875,000
On sale: now
Company%20profile
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Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
