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.”
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3.
4.
5.
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2. New Zealand
3. England
4. Fiji
5. Australia
6. Samoa
7. Kenya
8. Scotland
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10. Spain
11. Argentina
12. Canada
13. Wales
14. Uganda
15. United States
16. Russia
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The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
Price: From Dh796,600
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Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
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CAF Champions League semi-finals first-leg fixtures
Tuesday:
Primeiro Agosto (ANG) v Esperance (TUN) (8pm UAE)
Al Ahly (EGY) v Entente Setif (ALG) (11PM)
Second legs:
October 23
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Stars: Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie
Four out of five stars
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Emergency phone numbers in the UAE
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
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8.50pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,600m
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9.25pm: Handicap Dh165,000 (D) 2,000m
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How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars
Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.
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After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.
Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.
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Profile box
Founders: Michele Ferrario, Nino Ulsamer and Freddy Lim
Started: established in 2016 and launched in July 2017
Based: Singapore, with offices in the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand
Sector: FinTech, wealth management
Initial investment: $500,000 in seed round 1 in 2016; $2.2m in seed round 2 in 2017; $5m in series A round in 2018; $12m in series B round in 2019; $16m in series C round in 2020 and $25m in series D round in 2021
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Stage: series D
Investors: EightRoads Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Sequoia Capital India
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Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent
Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent
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Important questions to consider
1. Where on the plane does my pet travel?
There are different types of travel available for pets:
- Manifest cargo
- Excess luggage in the hold
- Excess luggage in the cabin
Each option is safe. The feasibility of each option is based on the size and breed of your pet, the airline they are traveling on and country they are travelling to.
2. What is the difference between my pet traveling as manifest cargo or as excess luggage?
If traveling as manifest cargo, your pet is traveling in the front hold of the plane and can travel with or without you being on the same plane. The cost of your pets travel is based on volumetric weight, in other words, the size of their travel crate.
If traveling as excess luggage, your pet will be in the rear hold of the plane and must be traveling under the ticket of a human passenger. The cost of your pets travel is based on the actual (combined) weight of your pet in their crate.
3. What happens when my pet arrives in the country they are traveling to?
As soon as the flight arrives, your pet will be taken from the plane straight to the airport terminal.
If your pet is traveling as excess luggage, they will taken to the oversized luggage area in the arrival hall. Once you clear passport control, you will be able to collect them at the same time as your normal luggage. As you exit the airport via the ‘something to declare’ customs channel you will be asked to present your pets travel paperwork to the customs official and / or the vet on duty.
If your pet is traveling as manifest cargo, they will be taken to the Animal Reception Centre. There, their documentation will be reviewed by the staff of the ARC to ensure all is in order. At the same time, relevant customs formalities will be completed by staff based at the arriving airport.
4. How long does the travel paperwork and other travel preparations take?
This depends entirely on the location that your pet is traveling to. Your pet relocation compnay will provide you with an accurate timeline of how long the relevant preparations will take and at what point in the process the various steps must be taken.
In some cases they can get your pet ‘travel ready’ in a few days. In others it can be up to six months or more.
5. What vaccinations does my pet need to travel?
Regardless of where your pet is traveling, they will need certain vaccinations. The exact vaccinations they need are entirely dependent on the location they are traveling to. The one vaccination that is mandatory for every country your pet may travel to is a rabies vaccination.
Other vaccinations may also be necessary. These will be advised to you as relevant. In every situation, it is essential to keep your vaccinations current and to not miss a due date, even by one day. To do so could severely hinder your pets travel plans.
Source: Pawsome Pets UAE
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Range: Up to 610km
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US tops drug cost charts
The study of 13 essential drugs showed costs in the United States were about 300 per cent higher than the global average, followed by Germany at 126 per cent and 122 per cent in the UAE.
Thailand, Kenya and Malaysia were rated as nations with the lowest costs, about 90 per cent cheaper.
In the case of insulin, diabetic patients in the US paid five and a half times the global average, while in the UAE the costs are about 50 per cent higher than the median price of branded and generic drugs.
Some of the costliest drugs worldwide include Lipitor for high cholesterol.
The study’s price index placed the US at an exorbitant 2,170 per cent higher for Lipitor than the average global price and the UAE at the eighth spot globally with costs 252 per cent higher.
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