UAE striker Ahmed Khalil looks set to join Al Jazira this summer on a free transfer, ending his long affiliation with Al Ahli, although as of Wednesday night there had been no official confirmation from either club.
The forward, whose contract with the UAE champions has entered its final few months and thus makes him a free agent, has reportedly accepted a four-year deal with the Abu Dhabi club, worth an estimated Dh18m per year. It would make him one of the highest paid footballers in the UAE.
No matter the figures involved, Khalil’s move to Jazira represents a significant coup for the current Arabian Gulf League leaders. The frontman, 25, is a leading player for the national team, while he was voted Asian player of the year in 2015, becoming the first Emirati to win the continent’s premier individual award.
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More AGL
■ Al Jazira 2-0 Al Ain: Ali Mabkhout scores twice for leaders
■ Al Ahli 2-0 Al Dhafra: Second-place side keep pace
■ League growth: Pro League Committee outline plans for future
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Khalil had been discussing renewing his contact with Ahli, his boyhood club whom he has served since making his debut in 2006, but the package offered by Jazira is considerably more attractive. Cosmin Olaroiu, the Ahli manager, initially denied the news following his side’s 2-0 victory at Al Dhafra on Wednesday’s, which Khalil missed through injury, but the Romanian did suggest his striker had received a better proposal elsewhere.
“I refuse even believe that Ahmed Khalil is leaving to Al Jazira,” Olaroiu said. “When I first came to the club Ahmed wasn’t even starting. But we worked together and he became the best player in Asia. Personally, if I performed well and I wasn’t appreciated I would prefer to go.”
Henk ten Cate, Olaroiu’s opposite number at Jazira, was later asked about signing Khalil, but said: “I heard the same rumour. I don’t know, I haven’t spoken to the player. I think if he would’ve signed I would have at least spoken to him, and I didn’t speak to him. It’s a rumour. I don’t react to rumours.”
Nevertheless, Khalil’s appeal is obvious. In 163 league appearances for Ahli in the professional era, he has scored 56 goals. During that time, he has three UAE top-flight titles, one President’s Cup and the Arabian Gulf Cup twice, while in 2015 he played an integral role in Ahli’s run to the Asian Champions League final.
Khalil has also become one of the UAE’s most influential stars. He scored the goals to seal a first appearance at the Olympics, in 2012, and was a key part of the side that won the 2013 Gulf Cup and finished third at the 2015 Asian Cup – the country’s best performance on foreign soil. His 15 goals thus far in qualification for the 2018 World Cup make him the competition’s top scorer.
As his impact and profile has increased, so too has Khalil’s standing both inside and outside the UAE. He has often captained club and country, and has in the recent past been subject of interest from Spain’s Primera Liga, Italy’s Serie A and the Portuguese top flight. Al Ain have also been linked.
At Jazira, Khalil would line up alongside compatriot Ali Mabkhout, the 2016/17 AGL’s current leading goalscorer. Ahli, meanwhile, began the season with Khalil, Rodrigo Lima and Asamoah Gyan on their books, but with Lima injured and Gyan struggling for form and fitness, it leaves the Dubai side with much work to do this summer.
Editor’s note: Story updated from earlier version to reflect clubs’ comments from Wednesday night.
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Results
Stage 7:
1. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal - 3:18:29
2. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - same time
3. Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious
4. Michael Morkov (DEN) Deceuninck-QuickStep
5. Cees Bol (NED) Team DSM
General Classification:
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 24:00:28
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:35
3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:02
4. Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:42
5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
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
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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.
What is a Ponzi scheme?
A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.
Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica
Best Agent: Jorge Mendes
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Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker
Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo
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Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart
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Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi
Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)
Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs
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4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
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5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
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8.50pm: Calandogan
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
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What is hepatitis?
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, which can lead to fibrosis (scarring), cirrhosis or liver cancer.
There are 5 main hepatitis viruses, referred to as types A, B, C, D and E.
Hepatitis C is mostly transmitted through exposure to infective blood. This can occur through blood transfusions, contaminated injections during medical procedures, and through injecting drugs. Sexual transmission is also possible, but is much less common.
People infected with hepatitis C experience few or no symptoms, meaning they can live with the virus for years without being diagnosed. This delay in treatment can increase the risk of significant liver damage.
There are an estimated 170 million carriers of Hepatitis C around the world.
The virus causes approximately 399,000 fatalities each year worldwide, according to WHO.
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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
Aston martin DBX specs
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 542bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Top speed: 291kph
Price: Dh848,000
On sale: Q2, 2020
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
PROFILE BOX
Company name: Overwrite.ai
Founder: Ayman Alashkar
Started: Established in 2020
Based: Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai
Sector: PropTech
Initial investment: Self-funded by founder
Funding stage: Seed funding, in talks with angel investors
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
