Tottenham had just announced their participation in a division where poor results will carry no penalty when they sacked a manager after a wretched run. Spot the contradiction. Perhaps Jose Mourinho is the first manager in the European Super League to be fired. He is at least blameless there, but culpable in the Premier League.
Spurs were top in December and are seventh in April. No wonder they want a world without Champions League qualification. It is increasingly unsurprising they would prefer one without Mourinho. This season has become a huge missed opportunity, a way of undoing Mauricio Pochettino’s legacy and further proof of the decline of a manager whose greatness is firmly confined in the past.
Even Sunday’s League Cup final against Manchester City, potentially bringing Spurs’ first silverware since 2008, was not enough to delay his departure. Mourinho was supposed to be the guarantee of glory; instead, for the first time since his 20-game stint in charge of Uniao de Leiria 20 years ago, he leaves a club without winning anything.
That adds an element of novelty, but the rest of Mourinho’s demise felt all so familiar it amounts to an indictment of Daniel Levy for appointing him. This was utterly predictable.
The only differences were that it unravelled quicker and that the indignities were bigger. A supposed specialist in the short term did not even achieve success then. Mourinho used to win the league in his second season everywhere; at Manchester United his sophomore campaign ended in second.
He leaves Spurs after 17 months, with fewer highs – a 6-1 win at Old Trafford, a couple of victories over Pep Guardiola and Manchester City and a pair of North London derby triumphs – and his greatest low, the Europa League defeat to Dinamo Zagreb, arguably the worst result by any English club in Europe for the best part of 20 years.
He goes when Harry Kane is clearly considering his future; along with Heung-Min Son, Tanguy Ndombele and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, he is perhaps only one of four to perform to their capabilities this season. That the striker has registered 21 goals and 13 assists underlines Mourinho’s underachievement; with an elite player in sensational form, Spurs have still floundered.
If footballers used to want to play for Mourinho, now dressing rooms are alienated. Where there were loyalists, he generated dissidents at Real Madrid, Chelsea, United and now Spurs. It is hard to escape the conclusion that he does not relate to a younger generation.
Perhaps Mourinho thought he was accomplishing something by scapegoating and marginalising Dele Alli; instead one of England’s finest talents has just had a bit-part role. Gareth Bale had a golden month; otherwise Mourinho has got little from him.
He has made his squad less than the sum of their considerable parts. He used to be a byword for clarity of thought but chopped and changed his team and altered his system; the consequences of mistakes brought fearful football. If Pochettino’s positivity was often reflected on the pitch, so was Mourinho’s negativity. Spurs lost an ethos, an identity and an energy, the factors that had propelled them forwards.
His constant carping was counter-productive. The tactic of trying to shift the blame – for dropping deep, conceding late goals, poor defending or bad results – was utterly transparent. It was tempting to wonder what Mourinho thought a £15 million-a-year manager was for, given his refusal to take responsibility for anything that went wrong.
And much did. Mourinho suffered 10 league defeats in a season, for the first time. Since December’s win against Arsenal, Spurs have more losses than wins. They have dropped 20 points from winning positions and a bottom-half record in the last four months. He turned toxic; he always seems to.
He represented Levy’s folly, a chairman blinded by stardust hiring an anachronism. Perhaps he will be the last to make the Mourinho mistake.
The Portuguese’s final home game concluded in strange fashion, with an odd row about Ole Gunnar Solskjaer over parenting. That was Mourinho, entertaining and quotable off the pitch but, with chances of a top-four finish disappearing, losing and failing on it. And, in the final irony, Spurs borrowed from his playbook with the diversionary tactic. He was sacked as they used the Super League furore to deflect attention from their managerial problems.
The biog
Birthday: February 22, 1956
Born: Madahha near Chittagong, Bangladesh
Arrived in UAE: 1978
Exercise: At least one hour a day on the Corniche, from 5.30-6am and 7pm to 8pm.
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi? “Everywhere. Wherever you go, you can relax.”
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
Motori Profile
Date started: March 2020
Co-founder/CEO: Ahmed Eissa
Based: UAE, Abu Dhabi
Sector: Insurance Sector
Size: 50 full-time employees (Inside and Outside UAE)
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Safe City Group
Friday's schedule at the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
GP3 qualifying, 10:15am
Formula 2, practice 11:30am
Formula 1, first practice, 1pm
GP3 qualifying session, 3.10pm
Formula 1 second practice, 5pm
Formula 2 qualifying, 7pm
Racecard
6pm: The Pointe - Conditions (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,400m
6.35pm: Palm West Beach - Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (T) 1,800m
7.10pm: The View at the Palm - Handicap (TB) Dh85,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
7.45pm: Nakeel Graduate Stakes - Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m
8.20pm: Club Vista Mare - Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,900m
8.55pm: The Palm Fountain - Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,200m
9.30pm: The Palm Tower - Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (T) 1,600m
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.”
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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
First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: 2019 Haval H6
Price, base: Dh69,900
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 315Nm @ 2,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
British Grand Prix free practice times in the third and final session at Silverstone on Saturday (top five):
1. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 1:28.063 (18 laps)
2. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Ferrari) 1:28.095 (14)
3. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes) 1:28.137 (20)
4. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari) 1:28.732 (15)
5. Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Renault) 1:29.480 (14)
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
More on Quran memorisation:
Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
