Mohammed Abdulrahman in action during a UAE national football team training session at Robina Stadium in Gold Coast, Australia, on December 28, 2014. Courtesy UAE FA
Mohammed Abdulrahman in action during a UAE national football team training session at Robina Stadium in Gold Coast, Australia, on December 28, 2014. Courtesy UAE FA

FA hits Al Ain and Al Ahli with fines and suspensions after Super Cup fracas



DUBAI // Fines totalling Dh192,000 have been levied on Al Ain and Al Ahli by the Football Association’s disciplinary committee for actions surrounding an ill-tempered Super Cup match last Friday.

The bulk of the fines were directed at Al Ain, who lost 1-0 through Salmeen Khamis's 86th-minute winner. They were fined Dh107,000 by the disciplinary committee after the panel met on Tuesday night.

Al Ain also were warned about the conduct of their supporters, who threw shoes and bottles of water onto the pitch towards the end of the match. Any future transgressions could result in the Arabian Gulf League leaders having to play selected home matches behind closed doors at a neutral venue.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Abdulrahman, the Al Ain midfielder, has had his initial one-match ban for a red card extended to four games. He was fined Dh50,000. Sent off in added time for barging referee Yaqoub Al Hammadi following his refusal to award Al Ain a penalty, Abdulrahman then directed offensive language at the fourth official. He was escorted from the pitch.

As part of the overall Dh107,000 penalty, Mohammed Obaid Hammad – the Al Ain first-team supervisor – and team manager Nasser Al Junaibi were fined Dh20,000 and Dh2,000, respectively.

Al Junaibi, who was sent to the stands as both benches were involved in a heated exchange, was also given a warning regarding his future behaviour.

Mohammed Obaid Hamdoun, an Al Ain board member, was fined Dh20,000 for reportedly using offensive language.

Ahli were punished, too, with coach Cosmin Olaroiu fined Dh30,000 after he was sent off following a verbal altercation with the Al Ain back-room staff.

Furthermore, both sides were charged Dh5,000 for failing to return on time for the second half of the encounter at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium.

Officials at the two clubs confirmed the fines to The National.

jmcauley@thenational.ae

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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.”

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