DUBAI // Al Wasl say they are not satisfied with the Football Association’s decision regarding the late registration of players, with the club still seeking to take their case to Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
On Wednesday, the Football Association decided the four deals concerning local players would be considered null and void, meaning Mohammed Nasser and Saeed Suroor return from Baniyas to Wasl and Al Ahli, respectively, while Fujairah’s transfer of Ahmed Ibrahim and Al Shaab’s move for Ahmed Jumaa have been also revoked.
However, since Suroor was part of the player-plus-cash deal that brought Carlos Munoz from Baniyas, his situation remains unclear.
Meanwhile, the FA maintain Hugo Viana will not be available for selection at Wasl until the January window opens. Viana was released by Ahli before the 12am deadline on October 3 and signed a one-year contract with the Dubai club.
Yet, because his registration was not made official until after midnight, an allowance the FA subsequently deemed invalid, the governing body have determined that Viana cannot be included in Wasl's match-day squad. Neto Berola, the Brazilian striker let go to make room for Viana, has been restored to the Wasl squad.
Wasl, though, are not pleased with the decision and will refer the issue to CAS, the Switzerland-based final arbiter of sports disputes, once Yousuf Al Serkal, the FA president, signs an agreement to move the case forward. Wasl were waiting on Thursday for an FA response.
"Al Wasl are expecting more than this; the FA have dropped the ball again," said Mohammed Al Amri, a Wasl board member. "Regardless of what they have decided, we are going to move forward with our case because we see this as no favour from the FA. They did not do anything for us, so this is our right. After that, whatever CAS say we are going to accept."
In response to Wasl’s stance, Mohammed Hazzam Al Dhaheri, the FA’s acting general secretary, said: “Everything will return to how it was and everyone will just wait until the transfers take place in January. If anybody wants to come back to us and then go to CAS, that is their opinion and that is their right. They can do whatever they want.”
Mohammed Al Menhali, a Baniyas board member, said the club would have no comment until they have clarification from the FA.
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
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
