DUBAI // Roelof Kotze, the UAE performance manager, said it is a sign of the progress made by rugby in the UAE that a club versus country row developed this week over an Emirati player.
Abu Dhabi Harlequins are disappointed they are unable to select Adel Al Hendi on the wing for Friday’s UAE Premiership final against Dubai Hurricanes.
The university student scored one of the capital side’s seven tries in the win over Xodus Wasps at the weekend, which clinched their place in the season finale.
He has to miss the game because he is also one of the outstanding players in the UAE sevens team, who are playing in a tournament in Al Ain on Friday and Saturday against teams from Afghanistan, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.
The club even enquired about the possibility he be released after the UAE’s three group games tomorrow, to drive to Dubai for the final, then return for the final day in Al Ain on Saturday.
The game’s rulers have decided he should play in a tournament that the UAE must succeed in, if they are to play in the Asian Sevens Series next year.
“The whole programme for this year has been based on this weekend,” Kotze said of the sevens tournament for developing Asian rugby nations in Al Ain.
“Everything we have done has been focused on this. We are very excited about the fact Adel has been holding his own in the league, which is why we released him to play in the league last weekend.”
Al Hendi, who is the only Emirati regularly playing at Premiership level, was permitted to play against Wasps, while those plying their trade in the Conference were pulled from their fixtures.
Kotze said more consideration will need to be paid to scheduling to avoid a similar clash in future.
“We were having a similar debate earlier this year when it came to national XV players playing in invitational charity games and Emirati players never even entered into that [debate],” he said. “I think it is a good sign that we are having this conversation. It is something we must consider in the future when arranging tournaments that something like this is actually becoming an issue.”
Jeremy Manning, the player-coach of Harlequins, is disappointed Al Hendi is unable to figure in a cup final that he has made such a valuable contribution to reaching.
“It is the biggest game in UAE rugby, and the one everyone wants to play in,” Manning said.
“We have given Adel a chance this season and he has been outstanding. For him not to be able to play in this game is ridiculous, to be honest, and we are not happy.
“I am gutted for him because he has worked so hard for the past eight weeks and this is the sort of reward everyone strives for, to make one of these finals.
“For him not to make it is sad. He brings a lot of energy and enthusiasm to our side.”
pradley@thenational.ae
Follow our sports coverage on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
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
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
POWERWASH%20SIMULATOR
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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.
