ABU DHABI // Sami Al Jaber, the Al Wahda coach, is seeking a contract extension after leading his team to fourth in the Arabian Gulf League and a possible play-off berth in next year’s Asian Champions League.
“I am very happy to serve at Wahda and looking forward for the next season,” he said when asked about his future at the Abu Dhabi club after his team’s impressive 5-1 drubbing of Al Nasr in the final league game at Al Nahyan Stadium on Sunday.
“It is up to the club management to decide if they want me to continue or not but I will be more than happy to sign a contract extension. As I told when I first arrived here, it is a privilege for me to be in charge of a club like Wahda.
“However, it isn’t the right time to speak about a contract extension when we still have the President’s Cup to play for.
“I feel the team has done pretty well in the most recent matches and I am hopeful we can take this momentum forward to the cup competition.”
Wahda have won three of their last five league matches and drawn the other two against Al Ahli, last season’s league winners, and the current champions Al Ain to finish on 47 points, only two behind Al Shabab in third.
Wahda meet Division One club Dubai in their President’s Cup opener on Thursday and Al Jaber believes his team can go far in the competition.
“Obviously the focus is on the cup competition, which is our only chance to win a trophy,” said the former Saudi Arabia international.
“It is a knockout format and a completely different competition which means we must adopt a different strategy. We will take one game at a time and the focus is the game against Dubai.”
Al Jaber, 42, was hired until the end of the season with the possibility of an extended stay to 2016 after Wahda parted company with the Portuguese Jose Peseiro in February despite taking the club up to third in the league.
Amer Omar, the Wahda midfielder who is enjoying his best season at the club, said the team under Al Jaber has shown remarkable improvement.
“As players, we want to do our best to work under every coach. And success is for everyone from the team to the technical staff, and the club management and our fans,” he said.
“If you look at the results and the performances of our last five league games we have done extremely well.
“The 5-1 win over Nasr in our final league game was a big confidence booster. We now believe in our potential and hopefully can take this momentum forward to start our next campaign on a very positive note.”
apassela@thenational.ae
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How the bonus system works
The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.
The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.
There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).
All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
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Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
In Search of Mary Shelley: The Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein
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