DUBAI // Diego Maradona has been a financial boon for Al Wasl and already has led to an exponential rise in global recognition of the club brand, said Marwan bin Bayat, the team's chairman, factors that demonstrate that hiring him as coach was not a publicity stunt.
Maradona, arguably the most famous figure in world football and widely regarded as the greatest player to ever kick a ball, joined Wasl in the summer after being released from his position as coach of Argentina.
The appointment of the 50-year-old Argentine drew excitement and exasperation in the Emirates: fans heralded in a new hero, while cynics dismissed him as a transient mercenary with a poor managerial record.
Yet, with the exception of a dismal 5-0 defeat to Dubai in the Etisalat Cup, results have been positive, none more so than a 3-0 victory over Sharjah in the league opener last weekend.
On the eve of Wasl's second game of the new season, against Baniyas on Saturday, bin Bayat said that his managerial coup is proving to be far more than an attention-grabbing acquisition.
"Yes, of course, we knew that we are going to get a lot of publicity out of this decision and that appointing Diego Maradona would be an investment that can bring a lot of positive returns to the club," bin Bayat said.
"From a business perspective, it's a feasible decision that makes absolute sense.
"Having said all this, our priority is to achieve positive results and take Al Wasl back to its former glory as one of the top clubs in the region, and we are very happy so far with what he has done."
Maradona has already demonstrated his passion for the role with a candid news conference last week when he pleaded for more professionalism in training and even offered to pay for players' families and friends to come to matches, saying: "I will pay for all their expenses; I am willing to give them my own jersey."
Bin Bayat dismissed suggestions that the Argentine World Cup winner had arrived in the UAE on a two-year contract solely to collect a sizeable salary before moving on to further his managerial career elsewhere. The club's chief executive said that Maradona had "more than one offer from different teams, whether on club or national level, but he chose Al Wasl".
"Absolutely not," said Bin Bayat when asked if it was fair to assume that Maradona was in Dubai to boost his bank balance. "From the first day we met with Diego, he showed his passion for coaching and being involved in football. He was very professional and serious with his dealing with us.
"His decision was clearly based on research that he'd done, and from the moment we signed with him until today, we have seen this passion, the seriousness and the commitment being translated every day. I can assure you that Maradona's main objective is to achieve great results with Al Wasl."
The chief executive's main objective is no different, but the Emirati is also keen to build a brand capable of becoming Asia's most prominent both on and off the field.
Maradona's appointment may be only the first step, but it is a giant leap in terms of developing global interest. Already, bin Bayat said, Al Wasl strips are being purchased in Argentina and other South American countries.
"The Al Wasl fan base mainly from abroad has increased dramatically since the appointment of Maradona," he said. "His fans are some of the most fanatic and most dedicated fans in the world, and we have witnessed this through continuous interaction from these fans."
Bin Bayat pointed out that, in the past four months, the official Al Wasl Twitter feed has grown from having 50 followers to more than 1,600. A scroll through their list of subscribers throws up users from Uruguay, Qatar, South Korea and, of course, Argentina. The club's website, he said, attracted more than 30,000 unique page views over the same time frame - an increase of 300 per cent on the previous four months.
"There's no doubt that ever since the appointment of Diego Maradona, the name of Al Wasl has exploded on the worldwide radar, especially in South America," he said. "In the past three months, there were more than 3,700 articles posted online all over the world about Al Wasl and Maradona."
Aside from the UAE, bin Bayat said the majority of the articles came from the United States and Argentina.
"The club is now being followed by media from all over the world, and the publicity that we are getting can be compared to the largest clubs in the world," bin Bayat said. "We believe that this has a positive impact not only on Al Wasl Club, but for Dubai and UAE football, in general."
gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
* Additional reporting by Brian Murgatroyd
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
PRISCILLA
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Habib El Qalb
Assi Al Hallani
(Rotana)
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Director: Spike Lee
Starring: John David Washington; Adam Driver
Five stars
The BIO
Favourite piece of music: Verdi’s Requiem. It’s awe-inspiring.
Biggest inspiration: My father, as I grew up in a house where music was constantly played on a wind-up gramophone. I had amazing music teachers in primary and secondary school who inspired me to take my music further. They encouraged me to take up music as a profession and I follow in their footsteps, encouraging others to do the same.
Favourite book: Ian McEwan’s Atonement – the ending alone knocked me for six.
Favourite holiday destination: Italy - music and opera is so much part of the life there. I love it.
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
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Ronaldo's record at Man Utd
Seasons 2003/04 - 2008/09
Appearances 230
Goals 115
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Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction
Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.
Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.
Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.
Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.
Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.
What are the guidelines?
Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.
Aged 18-24 months: If screens are introduced, it should be high-quality content watched with a caregiver to help the child understand what they are seeing.
Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.
Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.
Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.
Source: American Paediatric Association
Top tips to avoid cyber fraud
Microsoft’s ‘hacker-in-chief’ David Weston, creator of the tech company’s Windows Red Team, advises simple steps to help people avoid falling victim to cyber fraud:
1. Always get the latest operating system on your smartphone or desktop, as it will have the latest innovations. An outdated OS can erode away all investments made in securing your device or system.
2. After installing the latest OS version, keep it patched; this means repairing system vulnerabilities which are discovered after the infrastructure components are released in the market. The vast majority of attacks are based on out of date components – there are missing patches.
3. Multi-factor authentication is required. Move away from passwords as fast as possible, particularly for anything financial. Cybercriminals are targeting money through compromising the users’ identity – his username and password. So, get on the next level of security using fingertips or facial recognition.
4. Move your personal as well as professional data to the cloud, which has advanced threat detection mechanisms and analytics to spot any attempt. Even if you are hit by some ransomware, the chances of restoring the stolen data are higher because everything is backed up.
5. Make the right hardware selection and always refresh it. We are in a time where a number of security improvement processes are reliant on new processors and chip sets that come with embedded security features. Buy a new personal computer with a trusted computing module that has fingerprint or biometric cameras as additional measures of protection.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
