Al Ittihad's Abdelmalik Ziaya opens the scoring during his side's 2-0 win over Al Wahda at Al Nahyan Stadium last week.
Al Ittihad's Abdelmalik Ziaya opens the scoring during his side's 2-0 win over Al Wahda at Al Nahyan Stadium last week.

Wahda get their priorities right



ABU DHABI // The old cliche says "take each game as it comes" but Al Wahda are already looking past tonight's Asian Champions League (ACL) tie against Al Ittihad in Saudi Arabia. The Abu Dhabi club have all but given up on the ACL and are focusing their resources on the only trophy they can realistically win, the Pro League, and their vital trip to Al Ain on April 9 - a game which will go a long way towards deciding the fate of the title.

Winless in three ACL games, Wahda travelled to Jeddah for the Group B at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium without the Brazilian trio of Fernando Baiano, their top scorer who is serving a one-match ban for two bookings, and the midfielders Pinga and Magrao, both carrying minor injuries. Mohammed al Shehhi, the UAE international, is also out. "We have had two hard games in four days and some of the players need time to recover from the little niggles they picked up from these games," said Haider Ali, the Wahda captain. "We must be realistic and get our priorities right on what we can achieve at the moment.

"We are heading the domestic league table and we believe we have a better chance in winning this at the moment. So obviously our main focus is to preserve the league lead and we have a very crucial game coming up with Al Ain next week. It will be foolish not to think about this game." It has been a tumultuous week for Wahda. They suffered their third straight defeat in the ACL when going down 2-0 at home to tonight's opponents Ittihad last Wednesday and were then beaten 3-0 by Jazira - after having three players sent off - in the Etisalat Cup semi-final second leg on Saturday.

And Ali added: "We had a bad week. Our chances in the ACL have become very, very slim after losing all three games. Technically, we are still not out of the competition. If we can win this game, then there is some hope. Strange things happen in football and you never know what's around at the next corner. So fingers crossed." The Iranian side Zobahan, who head the group on seven points. They travel to Uzbekistan to face Bunyodkor, who have six points, while Ittihad are on four.

After dropping two points against Al Ahli at home in Riyadh last week, Eric Gerets, the Al Hilal coach, said the Pro League team did not deserve the point and dismissed the visitors as a side his Saudi champions could beat 10 times out of 10. Arriving in Dubai for tonight's Group D game, Gerets had changed his tune about Ahli, who scored an injury-time equaliser last Wednesday for their first points of the competition.

"I have a lot of respect for Ahli," said the Belgian, a former Marseille coach. "We do not underestimate any team. What I was trying to say after the last game is that we did not play well. Now we are here to compensate." Ahli are at the bottom of the group on one point, followed by Mes Kerman (three), Al Sadd (six) and Hilal (seven) and Noureldine al Obaidi, their caretaker, said:"We cannot play for any result but a win, considering the difficult position we are in."

@Email:apassela@thenational.ae Al Ahli v Al Hilal, 7.25pm, and Al Ittihad v Al Wahda, 9.45pm, both on Abu Dhabi Sports 1

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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" 

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Our House, Louise Candlish,
Simon & Schuster

The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

Previous men's records
  • 2:01:39: Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) on 16/9/19 in Berlin
  • 2:02:57: Dennis Kimetto (KEN) on 28/09/2014 in Berlin
  • 2:03:23: Wilson Kipsang (KEN) on 29/09/2013 in Berlin
  • 2:03:38: Patrick Makau (KEN) on 25/09/2011 in Berlin
  • 2:03:59: Haile Gebreselassie (ETH) on 28/09/2008 in Berlin
  • 2:04:26: Haile Gebreselassie (ETH) on 30/09/2007 in Berlin
  • 2:04:55: Paul Tergat (KEN) on 28/09/2003 in Berlin
  • 2:05:38: Khalid Khannouchi (USA) 14/04/2002 in London
  • 2:05:42: Khalid Khannouchi (USA) 24/10/1999 in Chicago
  • 2:06:05: Ronaldo da Costa (BRA) 20/09/1998 in Berlin
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

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

Ticket prices

General admission Dh295 (under-three free)

Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free

Buy tickets at: wbworldabudhabi.com/en/tickets

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs

Engine: 0.8-litre four cylinder

Power: 70bhp

Torque: 66Nm

Transmission: four-speed manual

Price: $1,075 new in 1967, now valued at $40,000

On sale: Models from 1966 to 1970

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.”

Company%C2%A0profile
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