DUBAI // The UAE will be looking for their fifth national team captain in just a year and a half after Alistair Thompson confirmed his intention to retire from all rugby.
The Abu Dhabi Harlequins No 8 was handed the captaincy ahead of this year's Asian Five Nations, and was one of the standout players as the UAE won their battle to beat relegation.
However, after five matches in charge, he is now planning to step away from the game to devote more time to parenthood as well as his job as a teacher.
"I will have fond memories of the game to take with me," Thompson said. "I am not saying I will never put a pair of boots on again or play again, but it is my intention to give more time to my family.
"I don't think I'll appreciate what it feels like until I am standing on the sidelines watching a Harlequins game next year. Maybe at that point I'll want to pull my boots back on."
His last match was the 47-21 defeat to South Korea in Seoul on Saturday, a performance from the national team that he deemed the best in his short spell at the helm.
On the same day, the UAE's status in the top flight of Asian rugby was confirmed as Kazakhstan's hefty defeat in Hong Kong condemned them to demotion.
"He has been a great leader and if it is his last game we [wanted] to send him out on the best note possible," said Duncan Hall, the UAE performance manager.
In the short life cycle of the UAE national team to date, the captain's armband has already had a variety of custodians.
Mike Cox-Hill was the first incumbent, having also been in charge of the last Test involving the Arabian Gulf in 2010, before the task was handed on to Renier Els, Dan Heal and then Thompson.
The fact none of them are available for national team selection any longer is symptomatic of a wider problem that has always existed within the game here, namely a high turnover of senior players.
Because of a general reliance on expatriate players who need to be resident here for three years to be eligible to play, the national team usually has a higher average age than teams from other countries.
Thompson even intimated the high average age of his side may have been the reason for their late capitulation in the defeat in Seoul. According to Hall there is no simple answer for extending the length of time the leading players are involved with the national team.
"Do I see a way round it? Not in a purely amateur game, no," Hall said.
"The only way around it is to create some level of semi-pro, where a guy is more into rugby than he is into his career. It all takes money. There are lots of issues [involved with that]."
Thompson's retirement will be keenly felt at his club side, Harlequins, who have also had to juggle the leadership role in recent times.
Jamie Clarke started last season as captain before moving to Qatar for work, then Thompson assumed charge and lifted the Gulf Top Six and UAE Cup titles during his second spell at the helm.
"It is a massive blow to lose Ali because of the knowledge he brings to the game," said Chris Davies, the Harlequins director of rugby.
"He is able to lead by example. When a player makes that decision it is difficult, but as a coach you just have to respect that.
"I am glad he has had a great season to finish on and wish him all the best."
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Closing the loophole on sugary drinks
As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.
The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed:
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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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