Pro League notebook: Al Wahda dismiss Ismail Matar injury fears



Pro League

Attendances in the first round of Pro League games were 36.2 per cent up on last season, with 26,594 fans attending the six matches. It is 7,338 more than the 19,526 fans who attended the final round of matches last season. Al Jazira drew the biggest crowd, 11,865, for their match against Al Ahli. The Al Ain-Al Nasr game had 5,322 spectators. Diego Maradona and Al Wasl drew 4,313 fans to their Pro League opener against Sharjah. The overall numbers, however, are still below the 5,000 average that the Asian Football Confederation demands.

Baniyas

Jorvan Vieira believes his team will score plenty of goals this season. The Brazilian coach was pleased with much of what he saw in the opening fixture, a 1-1 draw at Ajman. "There were a lot of positives to be taken from a match we should have won," said Vieira, whose team face Al Wasl on Saturday. "We created so many chances and that is encouraging. We are an attacking team and will score a lot of goals this season. It didn't happen in the first game, however, that will change very soon."

Al Wasl

The Dubai club have formally completed the signing of Australian-born Uruguayan striker, Richard Porta, who signed a one-year contract after completing his medical at the club headquarters in Zabeel. The 28 year old, who joins from Italian side Siena, will count as the club's Asian player and should form a formidable partnership in attack with Juan Manuel Olivera, his fellow Uruguayan. Diego Maradona now has his full quota of foreign players with Edson Puch, the Chilean midfielder, and Mariano Donda, the Argentine playmaker. Wasl, who beat Sharjah 3-0 in their opening match, travel to Baniyas on Saturday night.

Al Wahda

Al Wahda have dismissed fears that Ismail Matar suffered a serious injury after he was substituted in the second half of the 2-1 defeat to Al Shabab. Khaled Awadh, the deputy chief executive of the club, said: "He [Matar] complained of back spasm during the break and he was rested for the rest of the game. There are no serious injuries, however, and according to our medical team, he will be available for the next game." Wahda host Al Ain on Friday.

Ajman

Abdul Wahab Abdul Kader, the coach of the promoted Ajman, is hoping the return from injury of his Ivorian forward Olivier Tia will strengthen his attack when his team face Al Nasr on Friday. "We missed several scoring opportunities, particularly in the last quarter in the 1-1 draw with Baniyas," said the Iraqi. "Olivier's return from injury would certainly help us in the attack against Al Ain." Ajman are undefeated in five games in the Etisalat Cup and drew their opening Pro League match with Baniyas.

Al Jazira

Yaser Matar, the defender, may miss the entire season through injury. The 26-year-old centre-half, who has played 68 times for Al Jazirain the past two campaigns, is out with serious cruciate knee damage and will not return to light training until January. "The hope is that Yaser will start training again sometime in the new year, but even then it will take time for him to get back to where he was," said a club spokesman. "At best, we could see him ready for the last few matches of this season."

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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.
Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community

• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style

“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.

Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term. 

From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”

• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International

"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed.  Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."

• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org

"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."

• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com

"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.

His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.

Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."

• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher

"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen.  He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”

• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org

"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."

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Director: Rohit Shetty

Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone

Rating: 3/5

Libya's Gold

UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves. 

The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.

Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.

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