MADINAT ZAYED // On a warm and windy night in this oasis of humanity in the Western Region, a few miles north of the rolling dunes that mark the start of the Empty Quarter, Al Dhafra and Kalba went about the serious business of trying to save their place in the Pro League.
As the league entered its 16th round last night, the league's two smallest clubs found themselves in the relegation zone, on 12 and 11 points respectively, not without hope still of saving themselves but certainly hoping for three points against the unimpressive opposition they faced.
Dhafra and Kalba have earned their reputations as two of the yo-yo teams of the UAE. Dhafra have been up three times in the past decade. Kalba dropped out of the top flight in 2005, along with Dhafra, and did not climb back up until this season.
The fight at the bottom actually is a four-club struggle, with Al Ain (14 points) and Dubai (15) certainly not clear of danger, though it remains hard to imagine Al Ain, the nine-time champions, will not eventually climb to safety.
If the make up of the Pro League were left to marketing men, demographers and coach drivers, Dhafra and Kalba would be the teams to leave because they represent the two smallest and most distant cities in the competition.
Dhafra play their games in Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan Stadium, which features only one stand of seats on the west side of a sunken pitch in this city of 30,000. The club's players live in Abu Dhabi, 150km away, and train there, venturing into the deeper desert only on match days.
Kalba, meanwhile, is even smaller than Madinat Zayed. An enclave of Sharjah emirate located on the east coast of the country, 100km from Dubai. And when Dhafra and Kalba play, one or the other takes on the longest road trip in the UAE, approximately 350km. One way.
The competitive issues with Dhafra and Kalba are obvious. Each has competent foreigners: the forwards Boris Kabi and Abass Lawal for Dhafra, and the forwards Gregory Dufrennes and Elias de Oliveira and the midfielder Simon Feinduono for Kalba.
Each club, however, is hamstrung by a lack of elite Emirati players. Neither side contributed a single player to the age-group UAE side that won a silver medal at the Asian Games in November or to the senior national side that reached the semi-finals of the Gulf Cup in December or to the Asian Cup squad in January.
Until those clubs, and Dubai may be added, as well, have their own top-tier Emiratis, they will continue to struggle against the country's best.
The foreigners decided the match last night. Dufrennes finished the two chances that came his way, and Kabi pulled Dhafra within a goal in the 78th minute. But that was how it finished.
Kalba are up to 14 points, and are in vastly better form; they have 10 points from four matches under the Brazilian Jorvan Vieira. In the same period, Dhafra have one point and have fallen to the bottom of the table, even with their own new coach, the Syrian Mohammed Kwid.
This may not be resolved until the final weekend of the season, when Kalba are home to Al Nasr and Dhafra are home to Al Wahda. Their supporters may want to make sure they see those matches; the Pro League may not be back for a while.
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Scoreline:
Cardiff City 0
Liverpool 2
Wijnaldum 57', Milner 81' (pen)
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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
INDIA SQUAD
Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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.
Fifa Club World Cup quarter-final
Esperance de Tunis 0
Al Ain 3 (Ahmed 02’, El Shahat 17’, Al Ahbabi 60’)
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Everton 1 Stoke City 0
Everton (Rooney 45 1')
Man of the Match Phil Jagielka (Everton)
Dates for the diary
To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:
- September 21 Anyone interested in becoming a certified yoga instructor can sign up for a 250-hour course in Yoga Teacher Training with Jacquelene Sadek. It begins on September 21 and will take place over the course of six weekends.
- October 18 to 21 International yoga instructor, Yogi Nora, will be visiting Bodytree and offering classes.
- October 26 to November 4 International pilates instructor Courtney Miller will be on hand at the studio, offering classes.
- November 9 Bodytree is hosting a party to celebrate turning 10, and everyone is invited. Expect a day full of free classes on the grounds of the studio.
- December 11 Yogeswari, an advanced certified Jivamukti teacher, will be visiting the studio.
- February 2, 2018 Bodytree will host its 4th annual yoga market.
