Each week sports reporter Mina Rzouki answers a selection of readers' questions submitted via social media. If you have a question for Mina, you can ask her on either X or Instagram – both @MinaRzouki.
Q: What is ‘football heritage’ and how much of a part does it play in the latter round Uefa Champions League ties?
@daariuz_ via Instagram
A: The term "football heritage" was made popular by Jose Mourinho in his epic 2018 rant when he was in charge of Manchester United.
To those who are not familiar with the term, it relates to the core identity of a club and encompasses the traditions, historical milestones, cultural aspects, and identity tied to football clubs, national teams, players, and the sport in general.
Mourinho spoke of heritage when he was explaining Manchester United’s Uefa Champions League loss to Sevilla. “I say what I feel, I say what I see, and I say what I think," he said following his team's last-16 exit.
“And I think it’s a fair analysis – we’re out to a team that’s not a giant, not a team with the history of Manchester United, not a team with the heritage of Manchester United.”
As it turned out, 2018 was a great year for football heritage chat as it was also the season that Juventus defeated Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League last-16 and Giorgio Chiellini delivered a damning verdict on the North London club.
“It’s the history of the Tottenham,” said the Italian defender. “They always create many chances and score so much but, in the end, they miss always something to arrive at the end. We believe in history.”
Which brings us back to this current season’s Uefa Champions League. History always matters but it’s not the deciding factor.
Take Paris Saint-Germain v Arsenal, for example. I wondered whether the experience of consistent competitive performances in the competition from PSG for more than a decade had helped the French side defeat Arsenal in the first leg.
The Gunners had spent seven campaigns out of the Champions League before reaching the quarter-finals for the first time in 14 years last season.
Both PSG and Arsenal are still building their history in this competition. Luis Enrique’s pedigree, in particular, his heritage if you will, may be the difference maker.
His experience – including his treble-winning season with Barcelona in 2015 – is what drives PSG. He knows what it takes to win.
But in the end, the identity of a club and that of its head coach is a factor in determining a winner but it’s not the determining factor.
Q: Should Aurelio De Laurentiis give Antonio Conte everything he wants at Napoli or accept that he’ll never be satisfied?
Austin_gaius via Instagram
A: Both. For those who need more context, Aurelio De Laurentiis is Napoli’s owner and is famously reticent when it comes to giving his coaches all they demand. Antonio Conte is famous for wanting the best of the best and almost always delivers the club he is in charge of a domestic title.
Conte is on the verge of securing Napoli another scudetto with a squad that’s good but perhaps nowhere near the level of, say, Inter Milan – and others for that matter.
For once, I think his demands are actually reasonable and I cannot fault anything he’s said or complained about this season. He is right when he says that his name brings with it certain expectations – everyone always believes in Conte’s ability to win.
But for him to do so, he must be given the right tools to build a lasting and winning project and that includes a good squad, a great training facility and team co-operation at the highest level. Being tasked with securing success when he has a squad that pales in comparison to others in Serie A is a tough ask.
Napoli finished in 10th last season, a mammoth 41 points behind champions Inter, before losing the services of striker Victor Osimhen – on a season-long loan to Galatasaray – during the summer and then winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to PSG in January.
Brazilian winger David Neres is set to miss the season finale due to a calf problem that is reported to have been brought on by the training-ground pitches at Castel Volturno that are in desperate need of upgrading.
In 2014, Spanish coach Rafa Benitez was asked what Napoli lacked to become a truly big club and he summed it up in one word – infrastructure. More than a decade on and this problem has yet to be addressed.
Many years ago, plans were made to revamp the Castel Volturno facility or construct a new one, but those plans never materialised. Serie A rivals Fiorentina are a clear example of a club that has benefitted from owners investing in their infrastructure.
Right now, Conte is having to play with a makeshift defence without the likes of Alessandro Buongiorno and Juan Jesus. No suitable replacement was found for Kvaratskhelia, with Swiss forward Noah Okafor proving not up to the task after joining on loan from AC Milan.
Napoli are only playing once a week but Conte has achieved a lot with a little this season.
The Italian has been forced to adapt his tactics, to change formations and vary his approach throughout the season. He is the reason Napoli fans may celebrate at the end of the season.
Q: Philippe Coutinho is still an Aston Villa player, any chance of him being brought back in?
@duanepatrickphotography via Instagram
A: Like most, I completely forgot he’s still a Villa player. Just a few days ago, I was reading about the player’s relationship with Jurgen Klopp during his time at Liverpool.
Klopp is said to have offered the player some advice, telling him: “Stay here and they will end up building a statue in your honour. Go somewhere else, to Barcelona, to Bayern Munich, to Real Madrid, and you will be just another player. Here you can be something more.”
The Brazilian never fulfilled his promise after he left Liverpool for Barca in 2018 for a jaw-dropping £142 million. He returned to the Premier League with Villa – who were then managed by his former Liverpool teammate Steven Gerrard – on loan in January 2022 before making the move permanent four months later in a cut-price £17m deal.
Coutinho, though, failed to reach anywhere near the heights of his spell on Merseyside and was loaned out to Qatari club Al Duhail in 2023 before returning to his childhood club Vasco da Gama last summer, also in a temporary move.
The Brazilian club are desperate to keep him and made a move to sign Coutinho on a free transfer last summer, but Aston Villa declined, not wanting to register a financial loss on their accounts.
His contract ends in 2026 and Vasco are pushing to extend the loan or have the player terminate his contract with Villa.
I cannot see a return to Villa benefitting club or player. Coutinho appears to be prioritising a stay in Brazil, where he is also involved with a non-profit organisation that focuses on player development and education of young people.
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 Box
Company/date started: 2015
Founder/CEO: Mohammed Toraif
Based: Manama, Bahrain
Sector: Sales, Technology, Conservation
Size: (employees/revenue) 4/ 5,000 downloads
Stage: 1 ($100,000)
Investors: Two first-round investors including, 500 Startups, Fawaz Al Gosaibi Holding (Saudi Arabia)
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Croatia v Hungary, Thursday, 10.45pm, UAE
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
Results
- Brock Lesnar retained the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns
- Braun Strowman and Nicolas won the Raw Tag Team titles against Sheamus and Cesaro
- AJ Styles retained the WWE World Heavyweight title against Shinsuke Nakamura
- Nia Jax won the Raw Women’s title against Alexa Bliss
- Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon beat Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
- The Undertaker beat John Cena
- The Bludgeon Brothers won the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos and New Day
- Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle beat Triple H and Stephanie McMahon
- Jinder Mahal won the United States title against Randy Orton, Rusev and Bobby Roode
- Charlotte retained the SmackDown Women’s title against Asuka
- Seth Rollins won the Intercontinental title against The Miz and Finn Balor
- Naomi won the first WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal
- Cedric Alexander won the vacant Cruiserweight title against Mustafa Ali
- Matt Hardy won the Andre the Giant Battle Royal
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
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
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
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Monster
Directed by: Anthony Mandler
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., John David Washington
3/5
%3Cp%3EThe%20Department%20of%20Culture%20and%20Tourism%20-%20Abu%20Dhabi%E2%80%99s%20Arabic%20Language%20Centre%20will%20mark%20International%20Women%E2%80%99s%20Day%20at%20the%20Bologna%20Children's%20Book%20Fair%20with%20the%20Abu%20Dhabi%20Translation%20Conference.%20Prolific%20Emirati%20author%20Noora%20Al%20Shammari%2C%20who%20has%20written%20eight%20books%20that%20%20feature%20in%20the%20Ministry%20of%20Education's%20curriculum%2C%20will%20appear%20in%20a%20session%20on%20Wednesday%20to%20discuss%20the%20challenges%20women%20face%20in%20getting%20their%20works%20translated.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Sunday's games
Liverpool v West Ham United, 4.30pm (UAE)
Southampton v Burnley, 4.30pm
Arsenal v Manchester City, 7pm
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
