South Africa took a huge step towards hosting their second Rugby World Cup on Tuesday when the Rugby World Cup Board recommended unanimously they should welcome the 2023 edition.
South Africa, who hosted the 1995 tournament, will learn whether the World Rugby Council vote according to the recommendation on November 15 when they vote, with Ireland and France the other two options.
The winner requires a majority of the 39 votes on offer. The three candidates do not get to vote.
Bill Beaumont, Rugby World Cup Limited Chairman and head of the sport's governing body World Rugby, said South Africa had emerged as clearly ahead in all seven key criteria such as stadiums and financial assurances.
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"The comprehensive and independently scrutinised evaluation reaffirmed that we have three exceptional bids," said Beaumont in a statement. "But it also identified South Africa as a clear leader based on performance against the key criteria, which is supported by the Board in the recommendation."
South Africa, whose bid had looked weakened by Durban's withdrawing as hosts of the 2022 Commonwealth Games and abandoning recently plans for a Twenty20 tournament, understandably reacted with delight but noted that they still needed to have it rubber-stamped by gaining a majority of the 39 votes on offer in November.
"This nomination is confirmation of that belief and reward for an outstanding bid in which no detail was too small to be addressed or any question not comprehensively answered," said South Africa Rugby chief executive Jurie Roux.
"We are 100 per cent confident that the commitments we made in our document will be delivered. We will make all of world rugby proud of South Africa 2023."
South Africa had offered the most money of the three candidates with a commitment from the South African government to exceed the minimum guarantee of £120 million (Dh584m) required by World Rugby with an additional guarantee of £40m.
However, their Sports Minister Thulas Nxesi also urged caution ahead of the vote when he spoke to reporters following the publication of the recommendation.
"I am delighted with the way the process has gone so far. We must now be professional and wait 15 days for the final decision," he said. "We do not consider it a mere formality that South Africa will be awarded the 2023 World Cup, but the whole rugby world will surely have taken note of the recommendations."
For the Irish the report will come as a blow as they had been seen in many quarters as the front-runners to host the tournament for the first time.
A lot of political capital had been invested in the bid, which had cross border support from all the Northern Irish political parties and even British Prime Minister Theresa May throwing her support behind it, with Prime Minister Leo Varadkar coming to London for the final presentations last month.
Dick Spring, Chairman of the bid and a former international himself, admitted it was "disappointing" but also sounded a defiant note.
"There is nothing in the report which is insurmountable and this is certainly not the end of the road," said Spring. "Our team will compete to the final whistle as we bid to turn our historic bid plans into reality."
Bernard Laporte, the president of the French Rugby Federation (FFR), believed it was now a two horse race.
The France bid received high marks despite an investigation surrounding Laporte for allegedly putting pressure on the federation's appeals board to reduce punishments imposed on Top 14 side Montpellier, whose owner Mohed Altrad is the biggest contributor to the 2023 bid.
"As of today, a final is taking shape in which France and South Africa will go head to head," said Laporte. "A new match is beginning, and will play out until the sovereign vote on 15 November. In its assessment report, the RWCL placed #FRANCE2023 in top position on the main criterion: the financial offer and the guarantees."
Key products and UAE prices
iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available.
Price: Dh4,229
iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus.
Price: Dh4,649
iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
Price: Dh3,179
Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.
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.”
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 4 (Suarez 27', Vidal 32', Dembele 35', Messi 78')
Sevilla 0
Red cards: Ronald Araujo, Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona)
Ammar 808:
Maghreb United
Sofyann Ben Youssef
Glitterbeat
Profile of Hala Insurance
Date Started: September 2018
Founders: Walid and Karim Dib
Based: Abu Dhabi
Employees: Nine
Amount raised: $1.2 million
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, AB Accelerator, 500 Startups, private backers
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Top goalscorers in Europe
34 goals - Robert Lewandowski (68 points)
34 - Ciro Immobile (68)
31 - Cristiano Ronaldo (62)
28 - Timo Werner (56)
25 - Lionel Messi (50)
*29 - Erling Haaland (50)
23 - Romelu Lukaku (46)
23 - Jamie Vardy (46)
*NOTE: Haaland's goals for Salzburg count for 1.5 points per goal. Goals for Dortmund count for two points per goal.
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
