• Sharjah players celebrate after their AFC Champions League Two final victory over Lion City Sailors at Bishan Stadium in Singapore on May 18, 2025. All photos: AFC
    Sharjah players celebrate after their AFC Champions League Two final victory over Lion City Sailors at Bishan Stadium in Singapore on May 18, 2025. All photos: AFC
  • Sharjah players celebrate after Marcus Meloni's winner
    Sharjah players celebrate after Marcus Meloni's winner
  • Luanzinho on the attack for Sharjah
    Luanzinho on the attack for Sharjah
  • Action from the final between Lion City Sailors and Sharjah
    Action from the final between Lion City Sailors and Sharjah
  • Marcus Meloni, second left, celebrates after his stoppage time winner for Sharjah
    Marcus Meloni, second left, celebrates after his stoppage time winner for Sharjah
  • Action from the final between Lion City Sailors and Sharjah
    Action from the final between Lion City Sailors and Sharjah
  • Marcos Meloni celebrates after scoring the winner
    Marcos Meloni celebrates after scoring the winner
  • Sharjah defender Cho Yu-min controls the ball
    Sharjah defender Cho Yu-min controls the ball
  • Action from the final between Lion city Sailors and Sharjah
    Action from the final between Lion city Sailors and Sharjah
  • Sharjah winger Caio Lucas in action during the final
    Sharjah winger Caio Lucas in action during the final
  • Sharjah fans at the Bishan Stadium
    Sharjah fans at the Bishan Stadium
  • Toni Datkovic celebrates for Lion City Sailors
    Toni Datkovic celebrates for Lion City Sailors
  • Luanzinho on the attack for Sharjah
    Luanzinho on the attack for Sharjah

‘UAE deserves it’: Cosmin Olaroiu eyes World Cup qualification next after achieving dream of continental glory


Paul Radley
  • English
  • Arabic

Before being ambushed and soaked by his triumphant Sharjah players ahead of his valedictory press conference late on Sunday night, Cosmin Olaroiu briefly let the veil slip.

The hard man former centre-back, relentlessly driven to trophy after trophy, can clearly do gentle, too. Is there no end to his talents?

Caio Lucas was in for media duties with his boss. He had a Brazil flag tied around his shoulders, the AFC Champions League Two most valuable player trophy in hand, and his two young sons in tow.

Olaroiu saw them, and the tough guy veneer melted. The younger was upset after taking a tumble. “What’s wrong – you fell over?” Olaroiu asked, tenderly. “That is what happens in football.”

As the 55-year-old coach took his seat at the top table, he lifted both children onto his lap, and kissed them each on their cheeks.

And then, straight back down to the business of assessing what went so right for Sharjah, after they signed off a season of near misses with the trophy that meant the most to them.

Before Sunday night, only one UAE club – Ain, with two Champions League titles – had ever won a major Asian trophy. Now it is two, after Sharjah took the AFC Champions League Two crown with a 2-1 win over Lion City Sailors in Singapore.

Olaroiu said it was a success all the country could share in. “When we played in the semi-final against Al Taawoun, supporters from other teams came to support us,” Olaroiu said.

“This is for everyone, not just Sharjah but for the entire Emirates. First, I have to say thank you to all of them, and then to my players, who did a fantastic job.

“They ended with a trophy and I think they deserved it. I think this is the beginning of a new era in Sharjah. From here, they have to start to build a strong team with a strong mentality.

“I spent three-and-a-half years with them. We played eight finals and won five trophies. Now, in the moment I have to leave, but for them it is the beginning.

“I hope they will not stop here. I hope they will continue, and become bigger and bigger and bigger.”

If Sharjah do go onto build a dynasty, it will be without Olaroiu. The Romanian will sign off from duty next week before taking up the reins of the UAE national team. He will be missed keenly.

“He gave me freedom,” Lucas, who will likely play a central role in Olaroiu’s UAE side, too.

“He showed me the best place to be. I learned so much with him, and it will be very hard for us without him.

“But, like he said, it starts from now. We are going to try to do our best in every game. I just want to say thanks to him for everything that he did for this club.

“I am sure, without him, Sharjah would not be here. Thank you so much.”

Olaroiu departs the club game having won it all. After 14 major honours across his time with Al Ain, Shabab Al Ahli and now Sharjah, the one conspicuous omission was a continental title.

That arrived at the last available opportunity, delivered via a Marcus Meloni goal in the seventh minute of stoppage time at the end of the final.

“My dream was to win a continental trophy,” Olaroiu said.

“I got near with Al Ahli, I was near with Steaua Bucharest. I had the biggest disappointments when we lost those games, and suffered a lot.

“I still remember those games, and when we scored [against Lion City Sailors], again those things came into my mind.

“Finally, I have done it. This is one of my dreams, and of course I have the dream to participate in the World Cup. I will do my best to do that, and I think this fantastic nation deserves it.

“The way this country has developed, the way they have grown up in sport, they deserve to participate in the World Cup. I hope we can do it.”

Next up, the UAE job. It is not exactly an easy one. The UAE have a momentous game against Uzbekistan in Abu Dhabi at the start of June.

Win that, and they would be in with a chance of direct qualification to the World Cup when they travel to Kyrgyzstan a few days later.

The coach knows expectations are high, and the challenge great. But Olaroiu has broad enough shoulders to carry the burden.

“I have a very difficult mission,” he said. "I know the big responsibility that I have.

“I have always faced these challenges in my life. It is part of my life. I am used to having these kinds of games, not sleeping nice, but preparing and analysing.

“I have to pay back the hospitality this country has given me and my family. I have learned a lot of things in this country, and have made myself a better person with a better vision of life.

“I have to pay back, which is why I accepted this mission. I will give my best for it.”

yallacompare profile

Date of launch: 2014

Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer

Based: Media City, Dubai 

Sector: Financial services

Size: 120 employees

Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)

Last-16 Europa League fixtures

Wednesday (Kick-offs UAE)

FC Copenhagen (0) v Istanbul Basaksehir (1) 8.55pm

Shakhtar Donetsk (2) v Wolfsburg (1) 8.55pm

Inter Milan v Getafe (one leg only) 11pm

Manchester United (5) v LASK (0) 11pm 

Thursday

Bayer Leverkusen (3) v Rangers (1) 8.55pm

Sevilla v Roma  (one leg only)  8.55pm

FC Basel (3) v Eintracht Frankfurt (0) 11pm 

Wolves (1) Olympiakos (1) 11pm 

The stats

Ship name: MSC Bellissima

Ship class: Meraviglia Class

Delivery date: February 27, 2019

Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT

Passenger capacity: 5,686

Crew members: 1,536

Number of cabins: 2,217

Length: 315.3 metres

Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)

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

Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate 

Name: Peter Dicce

Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics

Favourite sport: soccer

Favourite team: Bayern Munich

Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer

Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates 

 

Like a Fading Shadow

Antonio Muñoz Molina

Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez

Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)

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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Remaining Fixtures

Wednesday: West Indies v Scotland
Thursday: UAE v Zimbabwe
Friday: Afghanistan v Ireland
Sunday: Final

Updated: May 19, 2025, 2:37 AM