FUJAIRAH // Ali Rabei, a professional footballer, sits on his sandals in the dirt, his eyes fixed on two half-tonne bulls wrestling before him.
The Al Wahda goalkeeper commutes from Abu Dhabi each weekend to Fujairah, where he shares Friday lunch with his family.
He then joins hundreds of spectators to watch humpbacked Brahman bulls lock horns at bloodless bull-butting competitions beside the Fujairah Corniche.
Mr Rabei is what is known around the arena as "the second generation", consisting of young professionals who are buying into the traditional of bull-butting with their hearts and wallets.
"He's got money, he's got fame, he's got everything," teases Abdulla al Sharqi, Mr Rabei's middle-aged friend. "And what does he do? He buys four bulls."
While Mr Rabei might not be one of the original spectators in the bull-butting arena, he is aware of the tradition behind it. He has been part of the spectacle since he was a boy.
"It is heritage," shrugged the goalie, who spent Dh45,000 (US$12,250) for his bulls. "It starts from when I was young until now. I'm working in Abu Dhabi but in my spare time I'm here."
He is part of a growing group that is investing in the sport for different reasons, from starting a new hobby to becoming more involved in the local culture.
"Every year some new kids come in," said Mr al Sharqi. "It becomes part of the social life. The flash, the fame, that's it.
"Like this guy," he said, pointing to a young man leading a pink and grey bull. "He was a very popular handball player. Now look. He got the bull!"
The contests begin each Friday at sunset. The Brahmans, which have characteristically floppy ears, snort, lock horns and kick dirt inside the arena. If one bull is too strong and risks hurting his rival, men rush into the arena to pull the beasts apart. The bull that pushes his opponent the furthest is the winner.
While a fence and metal barrier surround the arena to stop rogue bulls from running down the street, most spectators still prefer to watch the excitement inside the ring.
Among them is Fujairah's youngest bull owner, Saif Rashid, a 12-year-old who is considered an up-and-coming bull tycoon. He is at an age where he is shy about talking to girls but unafraid of head-butting his bull in training.
"Every day he will go to school, once back to his house to eat and after he will see his bull," said his brother Mohammad al Suwaidi, 26.
Saif's bull is one of 120 competing in a sport increasingly dominated by the young, said Abdulla Ali Kindi, a founding member of the bullfighting committee.
"It's an old habit and tradition in this area, especially along the coast," said Mr Kindi. "We don't have camels here. Camels are in the desert. The one thing here is the bull.
"It started with 25 or 30 owners [in the 1980s] and now it's more than 60 and most are from the young.
"Most the of young guys on this side are the new generation. They bought two or three years ago. It brings them fame, they become very popular."
Bull-butting is not a poor man's sport. Bull care costs as much as Dh5,000 a month for a diet that ranges from simple feeds such as dried grass to more exotic items such as spiced clarified butter, dried fish and mountain honey.
While no money is won in battle, successful bulls increase in value with each victory. The value of an unaggressive or losing bull can fall to a fraction of its original purchase price.
Case in point: Ali Obadi, 42, has worked with bulls since he was nine years old and thought he had a winner in an animal he bought for Dh24,000. The bull proved to be passive in the ring and Mr Obadi is now trying to sell it for Dh4,000.
While the sport is being passed down to a younger generation, it remains an important social gathering for those who established it.
Mohammed al Shari, a commentator whose sharp tongue and quick poetry charmed spectators and riled bull owners for 25 years, still comes to the fights every Friday after being replaced by a younger, more conciliatory Omani a few years ago.
Other veterans of the scene are more concerned about its future than its past.
The site of the arena does not belong to the participants, who might be forced to abandon it some day, as they had to leave the two previous grounds.
"The area is owned by the municipality. There's lots of parking but we don't own this place," Mr Kindi said. "One day we will have to leave it. Lots of old people, they can't see because they are in the back seats. They called the government to make a small, simple stadium. But there's no interest."
azacharias@thenational.ae
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Greenwood 77')
Everton 1 (Lindelof 36' og)
History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
Brief scores
Barcelona 2
Pique 36', Alena 87'
Villarreal 0
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: 3S Money
Started: 2018
Based: London
Founders: Ivan Zhiznevsky, Eugene Dugaev and Andrei Dikouchine
Sector: FinTech
Investment stage: $5.6 million raised in total
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Kill
Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat
Starring: Lakshya, Tanya Maniktala, Ashish Vidyarthi, Harsh Chhaya, Raghav Juyal
Rating: 4.5/5
Sam Smith
Where: du Arena, Abu Dhabi
When: Saturday November 24
Rating: 4/5
Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
Company Profile
Name: Direct Debit System
Started: Sept 2017
Based: UAE with a subsidiary in the UK
Industry: FinTech
Funding: Undisclosed
Investors: Elaine Jones
Number of employees: 8
Results:
6.30pm: Maiden Dh165,000 2,000m - Winner: Powderhouse, Sam Hitchcott (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap Dh165,000 2,200m - Winner: Heraldic, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
7.40pm: Conditions Dh240,000 1,600m - Winner: Walking Thunder, Connor Beasley, Ahmed bin Harmash
8.15pm: Handicap Dh190,000 2,000m - Winner: Key Bid, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
8.50pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed Dh265,000 1,200m - Winner: Drafted, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson
9.25pm: Handicap Dh170,000 1,600m - Winner: Cachao, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
10pm: Handicap Dh190,000 1,400m - Winner: Rodaini, Connor Beasley, Ahmed bin Harmash
Company Profile
Name: Neo Mobility
Started: February 2023
Co-founders: Abhishek Shah and Anish Garg
Based: Dubai
Industry: Logistics
Funding: $10 million
Investors: Delta Corp, Pyse Sustainability Fund, angel investors
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Confirmed bouts (more to be added)
Cory Sandhagen v Umar Nurmagomedov
Nick Diaz v Vicente Luque
Michael Chiesa v Tony Ferguson
Deiveson Figueiredo v Marlon Vera
Mackenzie Dern v Loopy Godinez
Tickets for the August 3 Fight Night, held in partnership with the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, went on sale earlier this month, through www.etihadarena.ae and www.ticketmaster.ae.
Visa changes give families fresh hope
Foreign workers can sponsor family members based solely on their income
Male residents employed in the UAE can sponsor immediate family members, such as wife and children, subject to conditions that include a minimum salary of Dh 4,000 or Dh 3,000 plus accommodation.
Attested original marriage certificate, birth certificate of the child, ejari or rental contract, labour contract, salary certificate must be submitted to the government authorised typing centre to complete the sponsorship process
In Abu Dhabi, a woman can sponsor her husband and children if she holds a residence permit stating she is an engineer, teacher, doctor, nurse or any profession related to the medical sector and her monthly salary is at least Dh 10,000 or Dh 8,000 plus accommodation.
In Dubai, if a woman is not employed in the above categories she can get approval to sponsor her family if her monthly salary is more than Dh 10,000 and with a special permission from the Department of Naturalization and Residency Dubai.
To sponsor parents, a worker should earn Dh20,000 or Dh19,000 a month, plus a two-bedroom accommodation
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
Price: From Dh59,700
On sale: now
Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
THE BIO
Favourite place to go to in the UAE: The desert sand dunes, just after some rain
Who inspires you: Anybody with new and smart ideas, challenging questions, an open mind and a positive attitude
Where would you like to retire: Most probably in my home country, Hungary, but with frequent returns to the UAE
Favorite book: A book by Transilvanian author, Albert Wass, entitled ‘Sword and Reap’ (Kard es Kasza) - not really known internationally
Favourite subjects in school: Mathematics and science
BACK TO ALEXANDRIA
Director: Tamer Ruggli
Starring: Nadine Labaki, Fanny Ardant
Rating: 3.5/5
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3/5
Company Profile
Name: HyveGeo
Started: 2023
Founders: Abdulaziz bin Redha, Dr Samsurin Welch, Eva Morales and Dr Harjit Singh
Based: Cambridge and Dubai
Number of employees: 8
Industry: Sustainability & Environment
Funding: $200,000 plus undisclosed grant
Investors: Venture capital and government
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Haltia.ai
Started: 2023
Co-founders: Arto Bendiken and Talal Thabet
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends