The modern game of football, especially in the Premier League, is riddled with change. But we football fans don't particularly like change.
We pick our football clubs at some early, impressionable age when we can't tell the difference between half-time and extra time, and remain loyal to our teams till death do us part.
I mean, have you ever heard of an Inter Milan fan deserting to AC Milan, or a Liverpool supporter becoming a Manchester United devotee? It would be treason, if such a thing existed in the footballing world.
But despite the fealty and trueness we show to our clubs year on year, the clubs themselves go through a bout of transubstantiation. They change their form and character from one thing to another.
For example a new team sponsor signs up and suddenly the old name on the kit has gone. The name of the new sponsor, perhaps one we'd never heard of, is emblazoned on our players' chests as they trot out of the tunnel. Do the fans get a choice? No, we don't. So one day there's a family-friendly name on our shirts, which we're proud to wear at father-and-son matches. The next day the sponsor has been changed and there is a gambling company we'd rather our kids really didn't know about.
The fans also don't get a choice about who owns the club. Boardroom control can change with shares swapping hands and management decisions being made, to which the fans are not privy.
If more football clubs were owned by the fans, through, say, a trust structure, of course the situation would be entirely different. But, alas, only a few German and Spanish teams have managed to replicate this model with commercial and tournament success. The Premier League, which has the highest number of global aficionados, has no examples of this ownership structure. But on the positive side, a change of ownership heralds the promise of a fresh injection of cash for players, stadium and the club in general. So it's not altogether a bad thing.
And, finally, we all have to suffer the indignity of seeing a workmanlike manager who speaks his mind and wears the team's colours on his sleeve ejected by an uncaring chairman. Fans of Aston Villa Football Club must be feeling this way as they lick their wounds after a 6-0 thrashing by Newcastle United. Aston Villa's competent, straight-talking Martin O'Neill was apparently pushed out of the job of manager by the chairman against the consensus of the fans.
So as football fans, the changes affecting our clubs can be many - sponsors, owners and manager. And what can we do about it. Nothing.
The people with whom long-suffering football fans have the greatest affinity are buyers of off-the-plan property who purchased their units with a view to living in them. I'm not referring to the speculators who logjammed the market in the freehold frenzy but the genuine homebuyers who transacted with the intention of creating homes for themselves. There are many of these people, and they can be found at post-mortem sessions concerning every property bubble that went pop - from Miami to Dubai.
Their plight is similar to that of football fans but with more skin in the game. At some impressionable point in their lives, they were swayed into buying off-the-plan property because of any number of factors - friends' recommendations perhaps, the skill of salespeople or a property developer's razzmatazz product launch. Partly with head but more with heart they chose to buy their dream homes, to be with till death did them part.
But somewhere along the way, things changed. The sponsor or brand behind the project ceased to back the scheme, so the project that had been previously endorsed by an A-list celebrity from yesteryear was now not only off-the-plan but off-the-map. The development was reduced to a stack of unused glossy marketing brochures that had never left their Teflon packaging. All other evidence of the sponsor or brand name had disappeared entirely.
Then the property buyer found out that the owners of the development had also changed. Because of a nefarious plot or quite simply a lack of cash in some cases, the people the buyers thought they were dealing with were no longer around. Some had skipped the country and left the employees and customers in a situation akin to a football club not paying its players their wages on time but expecting them to turn up and perform on the weekend: a story to which the troubled fans of Portsmouth FC will attest.
And finally they discovered the management team that had been doing something about fixing the problem no longer existed and had been replaced by a new bunch who didn't talk to customers, and if you wanted to meet them, the only place you might stand a chance was at the arbitration centre.
Still, despite their plight today, genuine buyers of off-the-plan property should find some solace in the ignominy that supporters of Liverpool FC have had to endure. Being the most successful club in England has not spared Liverpool a change of sponsor, owner and manager.
But then, changing from longtime sponsor Carlsberg to the prudent Standard Chartered Bank can't be a bad thing. Trying to offload the current owners, Messrs Gillett and Hicks, is a welcome fillip for the club's fans. And the introduction of the experienced Roy Hodgson as the manager has once again promised stability and growth at Anfield.
I suppose it helps that the team's celebrated anthem is You'll Never Walk Alone, a sentiment that has been all too absent among property developers, buyers and everyone else involved in the industry in these times of prodigious change.
Rehan Khan is a business consultant and writer based in Dubai
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
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PSA DUBAI WORLD SERIES FINALS LINE-UP
Men’s:
Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY)
Ali Farag (EGY)
Simon Rosner (GER)
Tarek Momen (EGY)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
Nick Matthew (ENG)
Women's:
Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
Raneem El Welily (EGY)
Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
Laura Massaro (ENG)
Joelle King (NZE)
Camille Serme (FRA)
Nouran Gohar (EGY)
Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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Top%2010%20most%20competitive%20economies
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Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Porsche Taycan Turbo specs
Engine: Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors
Transmission: two-speed
Power: 671hp
Torque: 1050Nm
Range: 450km
Price: Dh601,800
On sale: now
Left Bank: Art, Passion and Rebirth of Paris 1940-1950
Agnes Poirer, Bloomsbury
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
Takreem Awards winners 2021
Corporate Leadership: Carl Bistany (Lebanon)
Cultural Excellence: Hoor Al Qasimi (UAE)
Environmental Development and Sustainability: Bkerzay (Lebanon)
Environmental Development and Sustainability: Raya Ani (Iraq)
Humanitarian and Civic Services: Women’s Programs Association (Lebanon)
Humanitarian and Civic Services: Osamah Al Thini (Libya)
Excellence in Education: World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) (Qatar)
Outstanding Arab Woman: Balghis Badri (Sudan)
Scientific and Technological Achievement: Mohamed Slim Alouini (KSA)
Young Entrepreneur: Omar Itani (Lebanon)
Lifetime Achievement: Suad Al Amiry (Palestine)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.