If Sir Alex Ferguson were a fan of poetic revenge, he might consider erecting a billboard poster close to Etihad Stadium, home of "noisy neighbours" Manchester City.
It could feature a rapidly departing Carlos Tevez, his Louis Vuitton suitcase stuffed with cash and his City shirt tossed into the nearest bin.
The suggested slogan: "Welcome to Reality."
It would be a fitting riposte to City's infamous "Welcome to Manchester" billboard, which celebrated Tevez's shock transfer from United in 2009, taunting the bigger club for its supposed lack of true Mancunian credentials. (Old Trafford lies just outside the city boundary, and many of its faithful come from considerably farther away.)
Because, while City fans are entitled to be angry at Tevez's alleged refusal to take to the field at Bayern Munich on Tuesday, they have no right to be surprised.
Tevez showed no concern for the feelings of United fans when he defected to City, blaming Sir Alex's poor management. Back then, his turncoat nature brought great joy to the blue half of Manchester.
Did they really believe he would treat them any differently when it was time to hop back on the gravy train? Did they think they had won his heart with their self-deprecating humour, crazy goal celebrations and yarns about Mike Summerbee? Perhaps they hoped he would be overwhelmed by the purity of their Mancunian genes.
Well, he was not.
It seems he became so keen to leave Manchester that he could not wait for City to find a full-price buyer, as they had tried to do in the summer.
Instead he waited for the club's greatest European night in a generation to stage a fire sale, with the damaged stock being himself. With Fifa financial fair play regulations around the corner, City cannot simply absorb a £40m (Dh229.3m) loss and let him rot in the reserves until his contract runs out, nor even accept the amusing offer of a loan deal from the Irish minnows Limervady Rovers.
They must now sell him, in January, for whatever they can get.
Glasgow Celtic fans feel similarly betrayed by an unknown local player in whom the club invested. Islam Feruz, a 16 year old billed as "the Scottish Wayne Rooney", was lured to Chelsea on a pre-contract deal despite Celtic reportedly saving his family from deportation to their native Somalia, and moving them from a Glasgow housing estate into a more leafy area of the city.
We might feel more sympathy for them as they achieved great things with local players in 1967.
Their investment in him was shrewd and profit-driven, but nurturing a talented boy seems far less hubristic than snaffling a rival club's marquee player for fun.
True, Feruz was not obliged to swear allegiance to Celtic for life - he has every right to play the market, just as many lower-league Scottish players snaffled by Celtic did. But Celtic fans have more right to vent their fury at his betrayal than City fans do over Tevez. They can at least claim to be surprised by it.
Graeme Souness described Tevez as one rotten apple. Frankly, I have a nasty feeling the whole tree is sick but, for the sake of our own sanity, we must continue to consider our heroes without prejudice: ethical until proven mercenary.
PIPING UP
As an Englishman, I should be delighted at the controversial bagpipe ban at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
Scotland’s psychological loss is surely England’s gain as the auld enemies clash in Auckland on Saturday.
So I should be congratulating the New Zealand authorities for their steadfast enforcement of the blanket “no musical instruments” rule, which extended to one fan’s pipes being impounded by police last week.
I should be expressing righteous indignation on behalf of fans, officials and players who do not wish to endure the noise described by Alfred Hitchcock as like “an indignant, asthmatic pig”.
However, on this issue I will back the bagpipes.
Firstly, bagpipes are more than a musical instrument. Their haunting sound is deeply woven into Scottish identity, and should be treated with the same reverence the Kiwis demand for that aggressive morris dance they like to do before kick off.
Secondly, an attack on Scotland is an attack on all emotionally repressed northern hemisphere countries who rely on certain stimuli to get them revved up.
(Yes, that means us English.) Thirdly, the Scots are famous for their rebelliousness and inventiveness. When the English banned them from training their young men in warrior skills, they invented Highland sports.
Ban the pipes and they will simply improvise another stirring instrument using non-vetoed items.
Imagine Mel Gibson bellowing: “You can take our pipes, but you’ll never take our comb and paper!”
Finally, and most crucially, I am backing the bagpipers because it makes me look like a fair and noble Englishman (which the Scots hate), safe in the knowledge that they could not win today even if the entire Royal Scots Dragoons’ pipe section stood beneath the posts playing the score from Braveheart.
sports@thenational.ae
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Jordan cabinet changes
In
- Raed Mozafar Abu Al Saoud, Minister of Water and Irrigation
- Dr Bassam Samir Al Talhouni, Minister of Justice
- Majd Mohamed Shoueikeh, State Minister of Development of Foundation Performance
- Azmi Mahmud Mohafaza, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research
- Falah Abdalla Al Ammoush, Minister of Public Works and Housing
- Basma Moussa Ishakat, Minister of Social Development
- Dr Ghazi Monawar Al Zein, Minister of Health
- Ibrahim Sobhi Alshahahede, Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Environment
- Dr Mohamed Suleiman Aburamman, Minister of Culture and Minister of Youth
Out
- Dr Adel Issa Al Tawissi, Minister of High Education and Scientific Research
- Hala Noaman “Basiso Lattouf”, Minister of Social Development
- Dr Mahmud Yassin Al Sheyab, Minister of Health
- Yahya Moussa Kasbi, Minister of Public Works and Housing
- Nayef Hamidi Al Fayez, Minister of Environment
- Majd Mohamed Shoueika, Minister of Public Sector Development
- Khalid Moussa Al Huneifat, Minister of Agriculture
- Dr Awad Abu Jarad Al Mushakiba, Minister of Justice
- Mounir Moussa Ouwais, Minister of Water and Agriculture
- Dr Azmi Mahmud Mohafaza, Minister of Education
- Mokarram Mustafa Al Kaysi, Minister of Youth
- Basma Mohamed Al Nousour, Minister of Culture
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
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The Written World: How Literature Shaped History
Martin Puchner
Granta
If you go
- The nearest international airport to the start of the Chuysky Trakt is in Novosibirsk. Emirates (www.emirates.com) offer codeshare flights with S7 Airlines (www.s7.ru) via Moscow for US$5,300 (Dh19,467) return including taxes. Cheaper flights are available on Flydubai and Air Astana or Aeroflot combination, flying via Astana in Kazakhstan or Moscow. Economy class tickets are available for US$650 (Dh2,400).
- The Double Tree by Hilton in Novosibirsk ( 7 383 2230100,) has double rooms from US$60 (Dh220). You can rent cabins at camp grounds or rooms in guesthouses in the towns for around US$25 (Dh90).
- The transport Minibuses run along the Chuysky Trakt but if you want to stop for sightseeing, hire a taxi from Gorno-Altaisk for about US$100 (Dh360) a day. Take a Russian phrasebook or download a translation app. Tour companies such as Altair-Tour ( 7 383 2125115 ) offer hiking and adventure packages.
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THE BIO
Age: 30
Favourite book: The Power of Habit
Favourite quote: "The world is full of good people, if you cannot find one, be one"
Favourite exercise: The snatch
Favourite colour: Blue
The past Palme d'Or winners
2018 Shoplifters, Hirokazu Kore-eda
2017 The Square, Ruben Ostlund
2016 I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach
2015 Dheepan, Jacques Audiard
2014 Winter Sleep (Kış Uykusu), Nuri Bilge Ceylan
2013 Blue is the Warmest Colour (La Vie d'Adèle: Chapitres 1 et 2), Abdellatif Kechiche, Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux
2012 Amour, Michael Haneke
2011 The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick
2010 Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Lung Bunmi Raluek Chat), Apichatpong Weerasethakul
2009 The White Ribbon (Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte), Michael Haneke
2008 The Class (Entre les murs), Laurent Cantet
The BIO:
He became the first Emirati to climb Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal
He ascended Mount Everest the next year from the more treacherous north Tibetan side
By 2015, he had completed the Explorers Grand Slam
Last year, he conquered K2, the world’s second-highest mountain located on the Pakistan-Chinese border
He carries dried camel meat, dried dates and a wheat mixture for the final summit push
His new goal is to climb 14 peaks that are more than 8,000 metres above sea level
Surianah's top five jazz artists
Billie Holliday: for the burn and also the way she told stories.
Thelonius Monk: for his earnestness.
Duke Ellington: for his edge and spirituality.
Louis Armstrong: his legacy is undeniable. He is considered as one of the most revolutionary and influential musicians.
Terence Blanchard: very political - a lot of jazz musicians are making protest music right now.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
North Pole stats
Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
Weight of equipment: 45kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 0
Terrain: Ice rock
South Pole stats
Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
Weight of equipment: 50kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300
Terrain: Flat ice
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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.”
Shooting Ghosts: A U.S. Marine, a Combat Photographer, and Their Journey Back from War by Thomas J. Brennan and Finbarr O’Reilly
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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