At the start of February, the manager of the UAE’s champion football club warned that Saudi Arabian spending would either crush everyone else in Gulf football or force them to invest to try to keep up.
Just over a month later, Milos Milojevic’s point has already been born out. While UAE involvement in the continent’s top club competition has ended, Saudi sides are bestriding it like giants.
The draw for the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League Elite will take place on Monday. Three teams from the Kingdom – Al Hilal, Al Nassr and Al Ahli – are the financial powerhouses of the eight sides left standing.
The other participants from the west of Asia are Al Sadd, the two-time winners from Qatar, who knocked out Milojevic’s side, Al Wasl, in the last 16.
The make-up of the western half of the draw feels fitting in a competition which has two main sponsors from the Kingdom – Neom and Visit Saudi – with the other being Qatar Airways.
There is $10m on offer for the winners of Asia’s Champions League, and $4m for the losing finalists. Not exactly chump change, but the sort of figures that Cristiano Ronaldo, who has been leading the line for Nassr with distinction, would barely get out of bed for.
Ronaldo’s quarterly wages ($50m) are greater than the entire market value of the UAE’s costliest squad, which is that of outgoing Asian champions Al Ain ($49m).
That uses figures from the football statistics website transfermarkt.com. While market value figures are subjective, the source is consistent in its application.
According to that metric Al Wasl slightly overperformed by finishing fifth in the pool stage of the Champions League Elite.
Al Ain were the biggest underperformers. Their squad had the sixth best market value in the opening phase of the new format for Asia’s elite competition. Yet the defending champions finished dead last in the 12-team pool, surrendering their title with barely a whimper.
There is plenty of research that shows spend on wages, in particularly, corresponds closely to league positions in leading football leagues.
Milojevic, the Al Wasl manager, said it is difficult bridging the chasm to the Saudi clubs, but said his club are working hard to do it.
“We as coaches can work on things, and make the map for the players to travel,” Milojevic said. “In the two games [against Al Sadd], we created a lot of chances, in my eyes. We had a lot of shots on the goal.
“There is research – not just my idea – that says the more money you invest you will get more quality. I’m not the one who decides how much is invested in each country and I am happy with my players.
“For me, if you don’t have the biggest budget, you have to work more. You have to work smartly with recruiting and scouting, and you have to take your chances.”
Were it not for an 11-minute spell, inspired by Akram Afif in which Sadd scored three times, Wasl could foreseeably have progressed.
Milojevic said his side had been wasteful, but pointed out that Sadd have more experience of big games like that one.
They also have invested substantially. Their forward line included Claudinho, a Brazilian recruited for $22m in January, and Rafa Mujica, a Spanish striker who cost them $11m.
“I don’t think there is the type of investment there is in Qatar that there is in Saudi. Saudi is completely different,” Milojevic said.
“Unfortunately, I feel sorry for UAE and my club that we couldn’t have at least one club representing the country.”
There is at least one UAE side remaining in the Champions League Two, after Sharjah beat Dubai’s Shabab Al Ahli on penalties, in the small hours of Thursday morning. It was the second of five consecutive matches the UAE Pro League title rivals are playing against each other in various competitions.
Sharjah’s semi-final tie will pit them against a Saudi side – and one who prove the point that the lavish funding does not necessarily trickle down all the way through the league.
Al Taawoun upset expectations last season by finishing fourth, above Jeddah giants Al Ittihad and an Al Ettifaq side who were coached by Steven Gerrard.
Now under the guidance of one of just two Saudi coaches in the SPL, they are in mid-table in the league, but have progressed well in the continental competition.
Adel Taarabt, the former Tottenham Hotspur, AC Milan, and Benfica playmaker, said there is no reason for Sharjah to fear their next opponents just because they are from Saudi.
“They have a really strong competition and the league is much better than it used to be, but I think our league is good,” Taarabt said.
“We beat Shabab Al Ahli who are also a strong team. Let’s see. We are going to prepare well and we are going to go there to get through.”
The 12 Syrian entities delisted by UK
Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Defence
General Intelligence Directorate
Air Force Intelligence Agency
Political Security Directorate
Syrian National Security Bureau
Military Intelligence Directorate
Army Supply Bureau
General Organisation of Radio and TV
Al Watan newspaper
Cham Press TV
Sama TV
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Thursday (All UAE kick-off times)
Sevilla v Real Betis (midnight)
Friday
Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)
Valencia v Levante (midnight)
Saturday
Espanyol v Alaves (4pm)
Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)
Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)
Mallorca v Barcelona (midnight)
Sunday
Atletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid (4pm)
Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Honeymoonish
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elie%20El%20Samaan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENour%20Al%20Ghandour%2C%20Mahmoud%20Boushahri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
OPINIONS ON PALESTINE & ISRAEL
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
Apple%20Mac%20through%20the%20years
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BMW%20M4%20Competition
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Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
Bib%20Gourmand%20restaurants
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Company%20profile
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THE%20SPECS
%3Cp%3EBattery%3A%2060kW%20lithium-ion%20phosphate%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20Up%20to%20201bhp%3Cbr%3E0%20to%20100kph%3A%207.3%20seconds%3Cbr%3ERange%3A%20418km%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh149%2C900%3Cbr%3EAvailable%3A%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
