Al Ahli players, seen here lifting the Arabian Gulf League trophy in 2016, a year before they merged with Al Shabab and Dubai to form Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club. Christopher Pike / The National
Al Ahli players, seen here lifting the Arabian Gulf League trophy in 2016, a year before they merged with Al Shabab and Dubai to form Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club. Christopher Pike / The National

Dubai Sports Council says clubs must comply with five-year financial plan 'without exception'



The Dubai Sports Council this week announced the launch of a five-year plan to make sports and football clubs in the emirate financially independent.

The plan comes amid sustained calls for football in the Emirates to operate under stricter budgetary controls, with a number of clubs said to be encountering severe financial problems.

Following a meeting of DSC officials and attended by representatives of various clubs and football companies, including Arabian Gulf League clubs Shabab Al Ahli Club, Al Wasl and Al Nasr, the DSC laid out its vision that will see a gradual decrease in the Dubai clubs dependence on government support and the strict implementation of a zero-deficit budget plan.

Mattar Al Tayer, deputy chairman of the DSC, said the the government has provided Dubai "with the best investment opportunities in the world" in terms of tourism, business and other sectors and that all clubs had a responsibility to take advantage of them through "proper investment, effective financial budgets ... without exception".

In a stark warning to those clubs that do not comply to the DSC's five-year plan, Al Tayer warned: “The management who do not invest the resources and the name of the club optimally, they lead the club into a vortex of failures, debts and financial problems. This has become unacceptable and we will not allow these things to happen again."

Al Tayer added that through due diligence, co-operation and the application of regulations, as well as the initiatives and recommendations of the Sports Innovation Laboratory, wheels are in motion to "upgrade the sports sector to a level commensurate with the development witnessed in the other sectors of Dubai, and turn our sports sector into a model for the rest of the world.”

Although public records of football clubs' finances in the UAE are virtually impossible to obtain, The National reported in these pages in March 2017 how most clubs in the country operate beyond their means.

Hamed Alharthi, a presenter on the Dubai Sports TV show Al Manasah, painted a bleak picture of the state of AGL clubs' finances, saying many employees were going months without wages. One of the main reasons, Alharti said, were the extravagant contracts given to players, particularly foreign ones.

In a broadcast aired on December 23, 2016, Alharthi warned supporters "beware of the financial realities of your clubs, there is a financial crisis that’s knocking on the doors of our clubs. Our clubs are in a dangerous period, the clubs are facing crippling financial times. Clubs are not abiding by payments, whether to players, coaches or employees."

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On the same show, Al Tayer pointed out that since the top tier of UAE football turned professional in 2008 many things, most notably the standard of football, had improved, but that now, with professionalism, "unfortunately many clubs have overreached in financial and logistical matters.”

Austerity has hit several of the country's most supported and successful clubs in recent times. In May 2017, Al Ahli, Al Shabab and Dubai Club merged to form Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club on the orders of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Al Tayer said that a strong relationship and cooperation between DSC and the clubs were key to long-term financial stability.

“The coming period requires even more co-operation between the Council and the clubs and football companies as we work to raise the level of the sports sector in Dubai to the level of our ambitions and implement the directives of our wise leadership regards the development of the sports sector,” he said. “We need to work professionally to optimise the resources available, whether human or financial, or in terms of the available sports facilities.”

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Brief scores:

Toss: Northern Warriors, elected to field first

Bengal Tigers 130-1 (10 ov)

Roy 60 not out, Rutherford 47 not out

Northern Warriors 94-7 (10 ov)

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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.”

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Day 1

Toss: India, chose to bat

India (1st innings): 215-2 (89 ov)

Agarwal 76, Pujara 68 not out; Cummins 2-40

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Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

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