Manchester United play in the febrile atmosphere of Fenerbahce’s Sukru Saracoglu stadium on Thursday night, when 50,000 home fans will make the ears of their English visitors burn for a Europa League match.
United have been frequent travellers to Istanbul since a first, infamous trip to Turkey’s biggest city in 1993 to take on Galatasaray. On every occasion, the players have spoken about the noise level. It is an atmosphere that Napoli fans — no strangers to making a racket themselves — were mightily impressed by when they played across the Bosphorus, drawing with Besiktas in the Uefa Champions League on Tuesday.
Even when Fenerbahce’s new home is two-thirds full for league games, the noise is still deafening. If Turkish football has issues, the hubbub inside the stadiums is not one of them.
But while Turkish fans may envy richer and more successful western European clubs, they do have something which some of the giants of world football covet — a fantastic atmosphere at matches.
From Barcelona to Manchester United, Real Madrid to Paris Saint-Germain, the lack of atmosphere has become an issue. Each of those giants have huge numbers of vocal match-going fans, but these are often split up, their efforts seriously diluted.
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Camp Nou may have witnessed the best football in the world in the past decade, but visitors — and no club attracts more football tourists — are not only part of the problem, they are often underwhelmed by the flatness of the crowd inside the stadium.
Joan Laporta, a previous Barca club president, withdrew ticket and travel privileges from the notorious Boixos Nois ultras, who reacted by boycotting matches and leaving their 2,000 seat section empty from 2004. Though the police and many normal fans were glad they had gone, the atmosphere suffered without the Boixos, a big deal in 1990s and noughties Barcelona culture.
After three years of talks with fans and police, Barca sanctioned a Grada d’Animacio (animated stand) in August 2016. Occupying the same seats used by the Boixos, 300 fans who had become frustrated by the lack of passion sat together.
Except none of them sit. Instead, they stand, dance and do not stop singing for most of the match.
Camp Nou is much better for it and the players greatly appreciate it. The 300 quickly became 600 and it will soon be 1,200. It’s surprising how 600 people singing in unison can spark the atmosphere and there have been no problems so far.
“It is working. It’s nice to have it and I’m really happy,” socio Jordi Camps said. “I don’t feel embarrassed anymore by Camp Nou. The fans behind the goal make the others sing as the noise spreads.
“Of course there are some ‘tribuneros’ (conservative fans who sit mostly silent in the main stand) complaining about the racket, but that means we’re working. Maybe they should watch the game at home in peace rather than at the stadium.”
Both Madrid giants have had issues and a love-hate relationship with their own ultra groups, but they rely on them to generate the atmosphere. At the Bernabeu, a vocal section of ultras high up behind the south goal is impressive.
In Paris, the 48,300 capacity Parc de Prince provided one of the best spectacles in football long before PSG became a successful side with the help of Qatari backing in 2011.
Two huge ultra groups — Virage Auteuil and Boulogne Boys — were dominant at each end of the stadium. But violence between the two and the death of Boulogne boy Yann Lorence saw both groups banned from games for six months. A 2,500-name blacklist, which the club claimed they did not know existed, was compiled of fans who were barred from attending matches.
Groups of more than six were prevented from buying tickets together. As fan groups complained of violations to the French Constitution by preventing the right to organise, politicians turned a blind eye. What mattered to them was that the violence decreased, a problem club leaders had long been reluctant to address.
The ultras stayed away and fans thought the club was being cleaned up to be sold. It is true that PSG’s Qatari owners experienced no major problems with fans, though the atmosphere diminished, and disenfranchised supporters complained that the club was not the PSG they fell in love with.
Players and club president Nasser Al Khelaifi also complained about the lack of noise.
A new ultra group Collectif Ultras Paris was formed and after dialogue with PSG came back for a game against Bordeaux on October 1.
“Never previously imagined myself doing the Poznan at a football match, but PSG have let the ultras back in and place has gone wild,” tweeted the writer Simon Kuper, a Paris resident and regular visitor to PSG matches. There are still issues between PSG ultras and the club, and perhaps there always will be, but the dialogue is positive.
At Manchester United, a singing section was successfully trialled for a game against Real Sociedad in 2013, then opened in a different part of the stadium where fans, who had little inclination to stand up and sing, understandably objected to being moved from seats they had occupied for years.
A singing section does exist and fans make efforts to make original flags and raise the temperature, but it could be so much better.
United officials recently visited Celtic Park in Glasgow, where a safe standing section for 2,975 was introduced for this season. The atmosphere at British grounds has suffered since the introduction of all-seater stadiums.
Scottish clubs are not bound by the all-seater legislation of English clubs and fans can stand behind rails, similar to those used at many top German grounds, which can be converted to seats for games in Uefa tournaments where standing is not allowed.
It has been a huge success and several English clubs would like to follow suit, but legislation recommended by the Taylor Report after the 1989 Hillsborough disaster does not allow for it.
Following the results of the Hillsborough inquest, Liverpool supporters’ union Spirit of Shankly set out to consult fans and the Hillsborough families over the possible introduction of standing in top-flight English football grounds. It is a growing debate and one encouraged by the paymasters at television companies who want the spectacle of full, atmospheric stadiums.
However, even as an all-seater Anfield can produce a magnificent sound, especially before kick-off when You’ll Never Walk Alone is sung by 50,000 fans in the recently expanded stadium. Old Trafford, too, can come alive, especially for a big game.
“People talk about the atmospheres around Europe, but Old Trafford on a Champions League night is something special and really helps the players,” former player Darren Fletcher said.
On Thursday night, 1,200 travelling United fans will be all but swamped by the non-stop, threatening, all-mighty racket produced by Fenerbahce’s fans, despite their stadium being all seater.
When United took on Besiktas away in 2010, one fan wrote of his experience.
“The United warm-up was greeted with the noise you would expect. The tiny pen to our right housing the small number of travelling reds did their best to make some noise,” the fan wrote. “They needn’t have bothered. No one was going to drown this lot out.
“It was pretty deafening and at times it was pretty frightening stuff. As intimidation goes this was one of the best crowds I’ve ever witnessed.”
Some fans thrive off that and some players, too. But while it is not for the faint-hearted, it will do much to enhance the pleasure for those at the games and the millions watching around the world.
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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
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
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The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
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.
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Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
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Player of the Century, 2001-2020: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Ronaldinho
Coach of the Century, 2001-2020: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Jose Mourinho (Tottenham Hotspur), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid), Sir Alex Ferguson
Club of the Century, 2001-2020: Al Ahly (Egypt), Bayern Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Real Madrid (Spain)
Player of the Year: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Club of the Year: Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Real Madrid
Coach of the Year: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta), Hans-Dieter Flick (Bayern Munich), Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Agent of the Century, 2001-2020: Giovanni Branchini, Jorge Mendes, Mino Raiola
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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
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.
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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 specs: 2018 Ford F-150
Price, base / as tested: Dh173,250 / Dh178,500
Engine: 5.0-litre V8
Power: 395hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 555Nm @ 2,750rpm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 12.4L / 100km
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The specs: 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio
Price, base: Dh198,300
Engine: 2.0L in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 280hp @ 5,250rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 2,250rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7L / 100km
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Total eligible population
About 57.5 million people
51.1 million received a jab
6.4 million have not
Where are the unvaccinated?
England 11%
Scotland 9%
Wales 10%
Northern Ireland 14%
The British in India: Three Centuries of Ambition and Experience
by David Gilmour
Allen Lane
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