Staging a big international sporting tournament is, in my view, a little like the process of getting married. The bid is the courtship, if you like. At this time you will be at your absolute best; charming, fragrant, with a puppy-like eagerness to please.
If all goes to plan, engagement, a wedding and honeymoon will follow, each new step suffusing you with a glow of happiness and a buzz of anticipation - until suddenly the whirlwind of activity is over, and the awful realisation hits you that now you have to figure out how to make the thing work.
I am not quite as jaundiced on the subject - I have, after all, been married for 26 years - as the late film star John Barrymore who described love as "the delightful interval between meeting a beautiful girl and discovering she looks like a haddock." I feel, though, that for South Africa, who host the football World Cup in less than a year's time, the honeymoon is very much over.
What South Africa is looking at this morning is a pungent haddock that will need an awful lot of tender loving care, if the 2010 tournament is not to end in tears. The two major sporting events taking place in the Republic in recent weeks have left no one in any doubt that it will take a lot of hard cash and even harder graft.
First, 30,000 British and Irish rugby fans turned up to watch the Lions play the Springboks in Durban, and many had to improvise wildly to get there for kick-off.
Hotels in the city, which also plays host to World Cup matches, were booked solid weeks before the Lions match, and supporters were forced to take rooms two or three hours away. South African journalist Robyn Curnow said: "If there are not enough beds for a one-off rugby Test, how will Durban cope with the 500,000 visitors expected for the World Cup?"
Some Lions fans stayed in Cape Town, chartering planes to Durban at 5.30am and flying back the same evening. The situation was not a great deal better for last week's second Test in Pretoria, although I feel there will be no great demand for hotel rooms in Johannesburg for the final Test.
Then there was football's Confederations Cup during which other issues arose. One travel agent said around a third of his clients had lost luggage at the airport. Crime was a problem too, with the Egyptian squad suffering thefts from their training camp.
On the credit side, crowds for the cup have been wildly enthusiastic, even if you wish they would not always show it by incessantly blowing the vuvuzela, the long plastic trumpet that sounds like a swarm of angry wasps, who have just found their car has been clamped.
Still, it is a manifestation of the love for football. South Africa is up for the World Cup, of that there is no doubt.
I just wish the entire financial burden did not always fall on the hosts. Given the amount of money sloshing around football worldwide, is it not beyond the wit of Fifa to give a boost to the hosts in these hard times and make the union of South Africa and World Cup one to be cherished?
So another Wimbledon tournament reaches its climax, and once more - Andy Murray and Laura Robson excepted - there has not been much joy for domestic followers.
It certainly is not a lack of resources that is stifling the development of tennis in the UK, as Wimbledon itself generates millions in revenue for the Lawn Tennis Association, and the sport receives government funds too. So what is it?
I reckon it is the tennis club culture in Britain, which is still terribly middle class and, dare I say it, middle-aged. When the clubs are full of old folks banging balls over the net, where is the next generation supposed to hone its skills?
The answer increasingly, I am afraid, is Barcelona or Florida.
I may be in a minority but I would love to see Kevin Keegan back in English football.
Sadly, it looks like reports of his return to manage one of his old clubs, Southampton, were premature, but at that level I think SuperKev - as those of us of a certain generation will always think of him - still has plenty to contribute.
He did, after all, guide Fulham from the third to the top tier of English football.
Some say his methods are old-fashioned, but football is a simple game, and promotion from the lower divisions relies on creating a team ethic and a fighting spirit. Anyone who thinks Keegan cannot do that has not been paying attention.
mkelner@thenational.ae
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Pearls on a Branch: Oral Tales
Najlaa Khoury, Archipelago Books
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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Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
From Europe to the Middle East, economic success brings wealth - and lifestyle diseases
A rise in obesity figures and the need for more public spending is a familiar trend in the developing world as western lifestyles are adopted.
One in five deaths around the world is now caused by bad diet, with obesity the fastest growing global risk. A high body mass index is also the top cause of metabolic diseases relating to death and disability in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman – and second on the list in Bahrain.
In Britain, heart disease, lung cancer and Alzheimer’s remain among the leading causes of death, and people there are spending more time suffering from health problems.
The UK is expected to spend $421.4 billion on healthcare by 2040, up from $239.3 billion in 2014.
And development assistance for health is talking about the financial aid given to governments to support social, environmental development of developing countries.
