It’s a long way from the Santiago Bernabeu, but on a dusty pitch in a Karachi slum, a group of scrawny Pakistani boys in the famous white shirt of Real Madrid tear around after a football.
An academy backed by the Real Madrid Foundation opened in March in one of the oldest parts of Pakistan’s sprawling, violent metropolis.
For youngsters like 13-year-old Mohammad Ashraf, who endure tough lives, it has brought rare moments of pleasure – and dreams of glory.
“I told my mother and then everyone in the house that we played football and everyone is happy for me,” an excited Ashraf recalled of his first day at the academy.
Like most inhabitants of the area Ashraf’s father struggles to make a living from fishing.
Many local children are malnourished, few have more than the most basic education and most are expected to start work at an early age, repairing fishing nets.
Opportunities for fun are limited and so the football academy – operated by the local charity AmanSports – is a ray of sunshine.
The Spanish giants support academies all over the world through their foundation, with the aim of promoting sport and education.
AmanSports last year convinced them to open a centre in Karachi, and the Real Madrid Foundation provided equipment and training for coaches.
Khowaja Obaid, head of AmanSports, said running an academy linked to one of the world’s biggest clubs was a big challenge.
“There were sceptics who were not sure why we were doing this,” said Obaid, who along with his colleague Myra Khan went to Madrid to get training on coaching.
“The idea was to bring the best practice from around the world and give children access to sports, and Real Madrid is the biggest name that is out there in football in the world,” he said.
In Pakistan cricket is king, though football is popular in parts of Karachi and southwestern Baluchistan province.
Few of the children at the academy were aware of Real’s pedigree when they joined, but all recognised one name – the Portuguese talisman Cristiano Ronaldo.
“I like Ronaldo because he scores fast goals and has done well for his club and country and I am proud of him,” said 14-year-old Mohammad Afzal.
“I hope some day people will say the same for me.”
Pakistan, once a power in Asian football until the 1970s, now languishes 159th in the Fifa world rankings – just below Hong Kong and Tahiti.
But academy coach Mohsin Shah has hopes the centre will one day produce stars.
“I think if this academy goes on this game will spread and one day these kids will make Pakistan’s name in international football,” said Shah, himself a former international player.
The city seems to have some promise. In March a team from Karachi represented Pakistan in the Street Child World Cup in Brazil, securing third place – and perhaps more importantly a thumping 13-0 win over arch-rivals India.
The academy is used as an incentive to get kids to go to school – they must attend class before playing football – and AmanSports hopes to build the 50 playing now to 400, aged from six to 17.
They are also keen for the Real Madrid Foundation to send coaches to Karachi to help the scheme improve.
“We are hoping that their trainers come here, evaluate our programme, look at us – maybe they can point out some weaknesses,” said Obaid.
“We are also using football as a vehicle to make kids better citizens, better human beings and better members of society.”
Real take on city rivals Atletico Madrid on May 24 in the Champions League final and while Karachi has produced no “galacticos” yet, perhaps a fire has been lit.
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
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Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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.”
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Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
The five pillars of Islam
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Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
