The UAE ended the latest phase of the convoluted Asian qualifying process for the 2026 World Cup in frustration as they were held to a draw by Kyrgyzstan.
Kai Merk struck an equaliser in the fifth minute of stoppage time at the end of the game, to cancel out Harib Abdallah’s first-half strike for the national team.
It was a second draw in the final five days of round three of the qualifiers, and a drab way for the rejigged national team to sign off.
Cosmin Olaroiu, the UAE coach, had said on the eve of the game in Bishkek that the fixture would be a test of the players’ character.
Not in the same way as Thursday night’s game against Uzbekistan in Abu Dhabi. Automatic qualification for the World Cup had been riding on that, so full focus was a given then.
This was the inverse. The game was essentially meaningless: the UAE were already confirmed in the next phase of qualifying – a play-off in October – while Kyrgyzstan’s qualifying hopes were already at an end.
So, with nothing to play for, which players would still give everything they had? For whom would just wearing the national team colours be enough?
There was good reason for most them to give their best. Olaroiu had shuffled his pack from Thursday.
There were a couple of reasons for that. Most dramatically, two players – Khalid Al Dhanhani and Sultan Adil – had been thrown out for misconduct.
Others were injured, while Olaroiu also had his mind on another disciplinary issue. He was wary that a number of players were at risk of second yellow cards which would rule them out of the first game of October’s play-offs.
Those who came in would have been looking to prove they were worthy of being first-choice starters.
Abdallah, for one, had missed out on the starting XI against the Uzbeks, having been a key man under the reign of Paulo Bento, Olaroiu’s predecessor.
The young forward looked sharp from the off, and was rewarded for his industry with the opening goal.
On the half-hour Luan Pereira won possession and threaded a pass through to Abdallah, and he made no mistake with the finish.
Clearly, he had won his coach’s attention: two minutes later, he limped to the sideline with a knock, and he got an affectionate pat on his head from Olaroiu while he was there.
On the balance of play, the away side probably deserved the lead, but they still might have gone into the interval level.
In the fourth minute of stoppage time at the end of the half, there was a lengthy VAR review. After a tense wait, during which Luan had to be separated from some Kyrgyz players, the referee upheld his original decision of no penalty, but only after an offside had been spotted.
Just over 12,000 were at the Dolon Omurzakov Stadium to watch. Tellingly, that was 3,000 more than made it to the Al Nahyan Stadium five nights earlier when qualification was on the line for the UAE. The Kyrgyz fans seemed happy for a night out, even with nothing riding on it for their national team.
And it proved to be worth the wait for the home faithful, who roared with delight when Merk fired home his late leveller.
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
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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.”
Unresolved crisis
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east.
Fighting between the Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed more than 14,000 people. In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.
The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Kiev of sabotaging the deal, and Ukrainian officials in recent weeks said that implementing it in full would hurt Ukraine.
