Pay cap urged by Abramovich



LONDON // Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea owner, wants to see a salary cap introduced to world football in an effort to control the spiralling wages of the game's leading players.

The billionaire Russian businessman is alarmed by the wage inflation that saw Wayne Rooney increase his pay by 50 per cent last week after a public threat to exit Manchester United.

Though Abramovich contributed to the extraordinary escalation of footballer's remuneration by spending around £700 million (Dh4.1 billion) on buying Chelsea and equipping them with the Premier League's most expensive playing staff, he has sought to limit his funding of the club in recent years.

Abramovich is a strong supporter of Uefa's Financial Fair Play regulations which are designed to prevent European clubs from spending more than their revenue on player salaries and other costs.

In addition to Uefa's accounting controls - which will result in heavy loss-making clubs being excluded from European competition from the 2013/14 season - the Russian is in favour of a formal cap being placed on wage bills.

Bruce Buck, the Chelsea chairman, confirmed the club's support for a salary cap.

"We would seriously consider a wage cap. It has to be properly implemented," said Buck, who feels the cap should be at least Europe-wide to ensure that the game's top performers are not encouraged to leave the Premier League.

Chelsea unilaterally cut their wage bill last summer, shedding more than £25m in salaries by releasing or selling five senior internationals - Michael Ballack, Deco, Ricardo Carvalho, Joe Cole and Juliano Belletti. Those and other cost-cutting measures combined with significantly improved sponsorship and a kit supply deal with Adidas worth £20m a year until 2018 will bring the club closer to breaking even for the first time in the Abramovich era.

Chelsea declared a loss of £44.4m in their last set of accounts, covering the financial year to June 2009.

Consistent with Chelsea's new stance on salaries is the club's refusal to involve themselves in an auction for Rooney's services that developed over the past three months. Abramovich was alerted to the England forward's availability as he sought an unprecedented pay rise to £7m a year after tax, which is 40 per cent for Britain's highest earners. The club, however, would not countenance breaking their current wage structure which maintains Frank Lampard and John Terry as top earners on £150,000 a week.

Meanwhile, Chelsea are close to losing a second of their expensively acquired youth signings. Fabio Borini, the Italy Under 21 striker, has joined Gael Kakuta in refusing to extend a contract that expires at the end of this season. Like Kakuta - who has cost Chelsea well over £5m in wages and compensation following his illegal recruitment from RC Lens, the French side - Borini was promoted to the first-team squad this season, but is free to sign a pre-contract with foreign clubs in January. Italian sides AC Milan, Juventus and Sampdoria are interested in taking him for a Fifa-mandated fee of €270,000 (Dh1.37m).

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JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH

Directed by: Shaka King

Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons

Four stars

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
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UAE - India ties

The UAE is India’s third-largest trade partner after the US and China

Annual bilateral trade between India and the UAE has crossed US$ 60 billion

The UAE is the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil for India

Indians comprise the largest community with 3.3 million residents in the UAE

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi first visited the UAE in August 2015

His visit on August 23-24 will be the third in four years

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, visited India in February 2016

Sheikh Mohamed was the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations in January 2017

Modi will visit Bahrain on August 24-25

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In numbers: China in Dubai

The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000

Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent

The British in India: Three Centuries of Ambition and Experience

by David Gilmour

Allen Lane

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THE SPECS

      

 

Engine: 1.5-litre

 

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

 

Power: 110 horsepower 

 

Torque: 147Nm 

 

Price: From Dh59,700 

 

On sale: now  

 
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FIXTURES

New Zealand v France, second Test
Saturday, 12.35pm (UAE)
Auckland, New Zealand

South Africa v Wales
Sunday, 12.40am (UAE), San Juan, Argentina

Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi

From: Dara

To: Team@

Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT

Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East

Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.

Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.

I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.

This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.

It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.

Uber on,

Dara

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TRAP

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue

Director: M Night Shyamalan

Rating: 3/5

Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989

Director: Goran Hugo Olsson

Rating: 5/5

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Angela Bassett, Tina Fey

Directed by: Pete Doctor

Rating: 4 stars

Dark Souls: Remastered
Developer: From Software (remaster by QLOC)
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Price: Dh199

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The%20specs
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Tips for newlyweds to better manage finances

All couples are unique and have to create a financial blueprint that is most suitable for their relationship, says Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer at Century Financial. He offers his top five tips for couples to better manage their finances.

Discuss your assets and debts: When married, it’s important to understand each other’s personal financial situation. It’s necessary to know upfront what each party brings to the table, as debts and assets affect spending habits and joint loan qualifications. Discussing all aspects of their finances as a couple prevents anyone from being blindsided later.

Decide on the financial/saving goals: Spouses should independently list their top goals and share their lists with one another to shape a joint plan. Writing down clear goals will help them determine how much to save each month, how much to put aside for short-term goals, and how they will reach their long-term financial goals.

Set a budget: A budget can keep the couple be mindful of their income and expenses. With a monthly budget, couples will know exactly how much they can spend in a category each month, how much they have to work with and what spending areas need to be evaluated.

Decide who manages what: When it comes to handling finances, it’s a good idea to decide who manages what. For example, one person might take on the day-to-day bills, while the other tackles long-term investments and retirement plans.

Money date nights: Talking about money should be a healthy, ongoing conversation and couples should not wait for something to go wrong. They should set time aside every month to talk about future financial decisions and see the progress they’ve made together towards accomplishing their goals.

PREMIER LEAGUE STATS

Romelu Lukaku's goalscoring statistics in the Premier League 
Season/club/appearances (substitute)/goals

2011/12 Chelsea: 8(7) - 0
2012/13 West Brom (loan): 35(15) - 17
2013/14 Chelsea: 2(2) - 0
2013/14 Everton (loan): 31(2) - 15
2014/15 Everton: 36(4) - 10
2015/16 Everton: 37(1) - 18
2016/17 Everton: 37(1) - 25  

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