Theyab Awana could be suspended or fined for his "disrespectful" back-heel penalty-kick goal during the UAE's 7-2 victory over Lebanon on Sunday, a national team official said yesterday.
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"This should not have happened," said Esmaeel Rashed, the team manager. "I think what happened is disrespectful.
"We cannot accept anyone in our team who does not respect the opponent and does not respect the people who are working, or the supporters."
He said he and
Srecko Katanec
, the head coach, and one or two others, will meet soon to decide if Awana should be punished, and how severely.
"There are many forms of punishment," Rashed said. "We could send him away from the team. We could make him pay a fine."
Awana's goal, perhaps unprecedented in world football, made him a popular subject on the internet yesterday, but Rashed described the 21-year-old
Baniyas
midfielder as being penitent.
"The player, he is very sorry. He said: 'I did wrong. I made a mistake. Tell the team I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry I did this thing.'
"In the end, he's young, but he has to know what are the good things and the bad things.
"I think he will learn from this moment. He's really, really upset and very worried. From when he was sitting with us today, he's blaming himself."
An angry Katanec made clear he wished the subject of the back-heel goal would go away.
"We will resolve this inside our team and there will be no more talking about it," the Slovenian said, adding that he was annoyed that "this is the first thing journalists want to know about the match".
He conceded that he was not happy about the execution of Awana's penalty, which came in the 78th minute and was the final goal of the lopsided game.
Awana came on as a substitute in the 70th minute, and was replaced 10 minutes later, two minutes after his penalty.
Katanec said: "This is not respect, OK? I am unhappy. My reaction was normal: I took him out."
Awana was taken down in the penalty area by the Lebanon defender Akram Maghrabi, and the Baniyas and Olympic team midfielder quickly picked up the ball and placed it on the spot, seeming to make clear he intended to take the penalty, even though teammate Hamdan Al Kamali earlier had taken and scored one.
Awana took four steps towards the spot, pivoting between his second and third step and planting his left foot next to the ball on the final step, showing his back to the goalkeeper.
He raised his right foot and brought it down, heel first, on the ball, hitting it with fairly crisp pace to the left of the keeper, Hassan Moghnieh, who seemed almost stunned by the ploy and hardly moved.
The referee, Ali Hassan of Bahrain, showed Awana a yellow card, although it was never clear what infraction Awana was guilty of, beyond perhaps the player's poor judgement. He did not celebrate unduly, and teammates hardly reacted as he jogged back towards the centre circle.
Katanec did not immediately speak to Awana as he came off the field.
His only visible reaction was to touch hands with the player as he came to the bench.
Awana has been a key member of several UAE age-group sides who have fared well in international competitions. He has been a regular in the Olympic team, which has advanced to Asian Football Confederation group play.
He is known for his speed and attacking skills up the right side of the field, and he seemed ready to challenge for a starting position with the national team until he suffered an injury in a friendly against Australia in January, just ahead of the Asian Cup.
He was called into the national side's training camp in Austria, and seemed to be pushing the veteran Ali Al Wehaibi for a place in the first XI.
He scored two goals in 20 league games with Baniyas last season.
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The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler
Price, base / as tested Dh57,000
Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm
Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km
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Director: Daniel Espinosa
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Rating: 2/5
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.”
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
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 biog
Name: Timothy Husband
Nationality: New Zealand
Education: Degree in zoology at The University of Sydney
Favourite book: Lemurs of Madagascar by Russell A Mittermeier
Favourite music: Billy Joel
Weekends and holidays: Talking about animals or visiting his farm in Australia
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
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