Al Wasl’s Alexander Olivera, left, runs away from Al Shabab’s Mohamed Ali Alawi.
Al Wasl’s Alexander Olivera, left, runs away from Al Shabab’s Mohamed Ali Alawi.

Wasl sitting pretty in top spot



DUBAI // Al Wasl can spend the two-week Pro League break looking down on the rest of the table from top spot. Wasl, the surprise team of the early stages of the season, claimed their fourth victory of the campaign to take their tally to 12 points, one more than Al Jazira, after a 4-0 demolition of Al Shabab in front of a crowd of 3,270 mostly Wasl fans, at the Maktoum bin Rashid Stadium last night.

Alexander Oliveira, who opened the scoring, also completed the rout with his second goal in added time. Francisco Yeste and Saeed al Kas, who replaced Yeste 15 minutes from time because of an injury to the Spaniard, scored the other goals. Sergio Farias, the Brazilian coach of Wasl, chose to stay on the attack rather than consolidate a 2-0 lead when he brought on al Kas, the former UAE international forward. And it paid off as Shabab caved in during the final minutes.

Wasl were two up at the break and Shabab pressed hard on the resumption, but they were just not good enough to break down the visitors' defence. Shabab enjoyed both possession and territory, yet they failed to put any real pressure on Majed Nasser, the Wasl and national team goalkeeper. Yeste was the stand-out player, particularly in the first half. The Spaniard doubled his team's lead from a 30-yard free-kick after setting up Oliveira to open the scoring in the 14th minute.

Hassan al Sharif cleared a dipping free kick from Yeste into the path of Oliveira, and the Brazilian striker headed the ball hard towards the ground. As he tried to clear the ball off the line, Walid Abbas could only get the faintest of touches with his head.

The result was the ball bouncing briefly out of the goalmouth, before spinning back over the line, to Shabab's horror. Yeste, the 10-year veteran of Spanish football, had also put Maher Jassim through one-on-one with the Shabab goalkeeper, but the Wasl winger fluffed his chance with a weak shot from close range.

Shabab's best chance came two minutes from time when Mohammed Ahmed's powerful strike crashed against the near post, before Wasl's late strikes added gloss to the scoreline. . apassela@thenational.ae

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Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

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Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

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MATCH INFO

Uefa Champioons League semi-final:

First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2

Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome

TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)

The specs

Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel

Power: 579hp

Torque: 859Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh825,900

On sale: Now

Match info:

Real Betis v Sevilla, 10.45pm (UAE)

Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion

The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.

Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".

The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.

He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.

"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.

As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.

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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

How the bonus system works

The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.

The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.

There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).

All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.

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AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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PROFILE OF SWVL

Started: April 2017

Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: transport

Size: 450 employees

Investment: approximately $80 million

Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
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2009 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

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2013 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

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2015 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)

2016 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

2017 - Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)