Sheikh Khalid al Qassimi in high-speed action.
Sheikh Khalid al Qassimi in high-speed action.
Sheikh Khalid al Qassimi in high-speed action.
Sheikh Khalid al Qassimi in high-speed action.

Other Sport

Al Qassimi on the brink

A strong end to the second leg of the Rally Portugal has put Sheikh Khalid al Qassimi in contention to pick up his first World Rally Championship points of the season.

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A strong end to yesterday's second leg of the Rally Portugal has put Sheikh Khalid al Qassimi in strong contention to pick up his first World Rally Championship (WRC) points of the season. The Emirati driver, who had started the day 12th, remained on the pace all day in his BP Ford Abu Dhabi car as he closed in on a top-10 points scoring spot, and he was 11th after yesterday's 13th stage, but on exactly the same time as 10th placed Federico Villagra.

Al Qassimi will have the advantage for today's final five stages of running behind Villagra's Ford car, which should give him cleaner road conditions in which to push. Conditions yesterday were tough for al Qassimi, who said: "We were better than yesterday, but I had some problems with the brakes. "I enjoyed this afternoon and am positive about tomorrow's stages. We will make some small changes and start to push a bit harder,"

He will also have ambitions of catching Kimi Raikkonen's Citroen Junior car. The 2007 Formula One world champion is only 25.4 seconds ahead of the Villagra and al Qassimi tussle. It is only al Qassimi's second WRC event of the season, having concentrated his efforts in recent months on the Middle East Rally Championship. Meanwhile at the front of the field, Sebastien Ogier will be hoping it is third time lucky today in his quest for his first WRC win.

The Frenchman has twice led events this season, but has yet to finish on the top step. He suffered a puncture when leading in Turkey and had to settle for fourth place, then spun on the final stage of the Rally New Zealand earlier this month and had to be content with second place. But there was no sign of any mistakes on the Portuguese gravel yesterday as he maintained his lead at the front. Although championship leader Sebastien Loeb did make in-roads into his compatriot's advantage, he still trails by 21.1secs.

The six-times world champion is not optimistic of catching Ogier today in his Citroen, blaming being too conservative with concerns over tyre wear for why he had not been quicker. "I have to push tomorrow but the gap is big and he is going very well," he told wrc.com. "We are only second on the road tomorrow so it won't be easy to make a difference. He was running very well but at the same time saving nicely his tyres. I was too cautious for the tyres and lost too much time."

After his previous misfortunes when leading, Ogier was understandably reticent about looking too far ahead. "It was difficult but we didn't lose a lot of time being first on the road," said the 26-year-old. "I have to see for my gap to Seb because I know it will be hard again tomorrow." Petter Solberg's privateer Citroen is a distant third, more than 50 seconds adrift of Ogier, while the second Citroen of Dani Sordo is fourth.

It was another disappointing day for the BP Ford car of Mikko Hirvonen, who again was unable to match the speed of the Citroen cars, and his floundering championship dreams are set to take another dent. His teammate Jari-Matti Latvala will almost certainly lose his second place in the championship after crashing out on stage nine as he damaged his left rear wheel. * Compiled by Graham Caygill

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
MATCH INFO

Euro 2020 qualifier

Fixture: Liechtenstein v Italy, Tuesday, 10.45pm (UAE)

TV: Match is shown on BeIN Sports

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3. More tax audits

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4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime

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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 

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While you're here
While you're here
Scores in brief:

Boost Defenders 205-5 in 20 overs
(Colin Ingram 84 not out, Cameron Delport 36, William Somerville 2-28)
bt Auckland Aces 170 for 5 in 20 overs
(Rob O’Donnell 67 not out, Kyle Abbott 3-21).

UAE Premiership

Results

Dubai Exiles 24-28 Jebel Ali Dragons
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 43-27 Dubai Hurricanes

Final
Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Jebel Ali Dragons, Friday, March 29, 5pm at The Sevens, Dubai

Kareem Shaheen on Canada
Result

6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 – Group 1 (PA) $65,000 (Dirt) 2,000m; Winner: Brraq, Ryan Curatolo (jockey), Jean-Claude Pecout (trainer)

7.05pm: Handicap (TB) $65,000 (Turf) 1,800m; Winner: Bright Melody, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby

7.40pm: Meydan Classic – Listed (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Naval Crown, Mickael Barzalona, Charlie Appleby

8.15pm: Nad Al Sheba Trophy – Group 3 (TB) $195,000 (T) 2,810m; Winner: Volcanic Sky, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor

8.50pm: Dubai Millennium Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (T) 2,000m; Winner: Star Safari, William Buick, Charlie Appleby

9.25pm: Meydan Challenge – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Zainhom, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi

AGL AWARDS

Golden Ball - best Emirati player: Khalfan Mubarak (Al Jazira)
Golden Ball - best foreign player: Igor Coronado (Sharjah)
Golden Glove - best goalkeeper: Adel Al Hosani (Sharjah)
Best Coach - the leader: Abdulaziz Al Anbari (Sharjah)
Fans' Player of the Year: Driss Fetouhi (Dibba)
Golden Boy - best young player: Ali Saleh (Al Wasl)
Best Fans of the Year: Sharjah
Goal of the Year: Michael Ortega (Baniyas)

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