You'll have to excuse Rex Ryan. He is new to the job and doesn't know yet that you are not supposed to act like it is fun to be paid millions of dollars to coach a football team.
Ryan is the newly hired head coach of the New York Jets, a job for which he is guaranteed US$11million (Dh40m) over the next four years and one for which he has been preparing nearly all his life.
The son of the former-NFL head coach Buddy Ryan, who was most famous for his days as the defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears when they were raucously winning the Super Bowl in 1986 with one of the stingiest and most talkative defences in football history, Ryan has spent nearly all his professional life in and around the NFL so you would think he'd know by now you are supposed to make having your dream job look like it is as unpleasant a task as scouring the innards of trash trucks for a living.
Why laugh about anything when there is a football game to worry about in three months?
Fortunately for the larger world, Ryan cannot help himself. He is his father's son, a guy who was always quick with a quip. The apple has not fallen far from the tree, even if it has landed in the Big Apple and that is refreshing to most but baffling to a guy like Bill Belichick, the stoic New England Patriots coach.
The Jets are one of the Patriots' great rivals. Hatred runs deep there. This has been going on for years and shows no signs of abating. Ryan's presence has only added to what he apparently sees as an opportunity to have a little bit of fun.
Recently, Ryan was asked if he was nervous about having to oppose Belichick's Patriots, who have won three Super Bowls this decade and appeared in four while the Jets have not been there since Joe Namath was running the place in 1968.
"I never came here to kiss Bill Belichick's rings," Ryan chortled. "I came here to win. Let's put it that way. So we'll see what happens. I'm certainly not intimidated by New England, or anybody else."
Ryan made that clear a few days later, after the Miami Dolphins middle linebacker Channing Crowder criticised him for his apparent bluster. You want bluster? Here.
"I don't know this Channing Crowder," Ryan said with a laugh. "All I know is he's all tatted [tattooed] up so I guess I ought to be nervous about him?"
When Crowder got wind of that he said something about how he, at 25, would handle the 46-year-old Ryan and then amended it to suggest his dad or his uncle could take care of the problem for him.
"He's talking again?" Ryan said. "I've walked over tougher guys [than him] going to a fight. He can send himself and his father after me."
In the normally tight-lipped world of American professional football coaches, Ryan's words came as a shock. To anybody with a functioning brain they were hilarious. To Bill Belichick? What's so funny?
"Right now I'm just trying to coach our team and get our guys ready to have a good week of practice and get them ready for training camp," Belichick droned three months before the season is to begin. "That's really what we're up for, getting our team ready and when it's time to play we will show up to play.
"I'm just trying to get ready to play and that's it. We open with Buffalo so that is the next team we play. We play Miami and the Jets in due time. They'll be tough games like they usually are."
Blah, blah, blah. Thank goodness guys like Belichick weren't around when the NFL was founded. If they had been the Super Bowl wouldn't even be a mug.
rborges@thenational.ae
Emirates exiles
Will Wilson is not the first player to have attained high-class representative honours after first learning to play rugby on the playing fields of UAE.
Jonny Macdonald
Abu Dhabi-born and raised, the current Jebel Ali Dragons assistant coach was selected to play for Scotland at the Hong Kong Sevens in 2011.
Jordan Onojaife
Having started rugby by chance when the Jumeirah College team were short of players, he later won the World Under 20 Championship with England.
Devante Onojaife
Followed older brother Jordan into England age-group rugby, as well as the pro game at Northampton Saints, but recently switched allegiance to Scotland.
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
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
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
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All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
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Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
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Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
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Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
