N E W STHURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2016

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But there was a backlash, with some Qataris saying thesoccer tournament must not be used as an excuse forimporting Western values. “Qatar has an Islamic identity andwe must prevent threats or abuse to that under any pretext,”said Ahmed Al-Sowaidi, a 43-year-old secondary schoolteacher in Doha. “The World Cup should not result inWestern concepts being forced upon us.”

Social media users adopted the hashtag “Stop promotersof vice in Qatar” to say the article was obscene and called onthe government to close the paper. Doha News’s editordefended the piece. “It seemed the time was right to open a

discussion on the matter. It is a testament to media freedomin Qatar that we can have this debate at all,” Shabina Khatrisaid. An official at Qatar’s Ministry of Youth and Sport saidthe World Cup would be “inclusive of people and culturesand uphold the essence of Qatar’s own traditions”.

“These two things are not mutually exclusive,” saidthe official, who did not directly address whether thetournament would welcome gay guests. Openly gayperformers, including singer George Michael, haveplayed concerts in Qatar. But in January, Qatar bannedfrom cinemas “The Danish Girl”, a movie starring Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne about an artist who undergoesa sex change. — Reuters

Article provokes Qatar backlash

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The baby died in the inferno and the mother sufferedburns, she said. “I am looking for our child, they told me ‘gofind him in the fridge’,” said the middle-aged woman. “Ifound him in a small cardboard box but I’m not even sure ifit’s our child or a piece of sponge. It looks like charcoal,”said the woman, wearing a black abaya. “I just want ourchild, somebody give him to me,” she cried.

An official at Iraq’s interior ministry confirmed the deathtoll from the fire, adding that three other babies were beingtreated for smoke inhalation. Many of Baghdad’s publichospitals are poorly maintained and offer substandardhealthcare, forcing a number of Iraqis to seek private treat-ment or travel abroad. The lack of adequate public services,such as quality medical care, electricity and water supply,

has angered the public and led to a series of protests in thepast year. “The hospital is very old and doesn’t have fireequipment,” Hijami said. A member of Yarmouk hospitalstaff who asked not to be named said a “thorough investi-gation” had been launched into the tragedy.

The authorities were criticized in the aftermath of anattack in the Karrada district of Baghdad last month thatkilled at least 323 people. The truck bomb blast claimedby the Islamic State group sparked fires in shoppingarcades on either side of the street that accounted for asignificant proportion of the casualties. Witnesses com-plained that the fire brigade was unacceptably slow inresponding to the emergency. Iraq is one of the world’stop oil producers but conflict and endemic graft have pre-vented that wealth from translating into better living con-ditions for Iraqis. — AFP

12 newborns killed in Baghdad hospital...

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Kuwait and the IOC have been at loggerheads sinceover a new law that the Olympic body says will under-mine the autonomy of sport in the country. Kuwaitargues it will strengthen the independence of sportsbodies. As a result of the ban, Kuwaiti athletes are com-peting at the Rio Games as neutral athletes under theOlympic flag and are not eligible for any funding fromthe IOC. Kuwait was suspended in 2010 over a similardispute but reinstated before the 2012 LondonOlympics. The national football federation is alsobanned by FIFA over government interference in therunning of the Kuwaiti FA.

Separately, the Interior Ministry announced yesterdaythat it has confiscated 1.5 million pills of the ampheta-mine-like drug Captagon, which were stashed in twocontainers that arrived from Ukraine. Deputy Prime

Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah oversaw the seizure during avisit he made to the Interior Ministry’s anti-drugs depart-ment, said a statement issued by the ministry.

Moreover, the statement noted that security forcesare capable of averting all threats to the security of thenation. “We will strike with an iron fist all those whoseek to do harm to the country,” Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled said. Furthermore, he said that such practicesserve to motivate security personnel to hone their skillsto combat all threats, describing them as the eyes thatnever slumber.

The statement revealed that two individuals, aSyrian and a Saudi, have been apprehended in con-nection with the incident and will face legal action. Italso added that the two have confessed to bringingin copious amounts of the drug in a clandestine mis-sion. — Agencies

Police ‘visit’ Kuwait FA offices

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reporter were given five-month suspended jail sen-tences for insulting the justice minister and other officials.

Meanwhile, rights campaigners called yesterday forinternational pressure on Oman to protect press free-dom. The Gulf Center for Human Rights said Oman’sinformation ministry had ordered Azaman, including itsonline edition, be shut down indefinitely. The center saidMaamari was being held along with two detained col-leagues, Zaher Al-Abri and Yousef Al-Haj. They are notallowed to contact their families or lawyers, it said. Thenewspaper’s website yesterday displayed pictures of thethree journalists along with a short notice that publica-

tion had been suspended. “The arrests appear to signify aworrying escalation of the authorities’ clampdown onfreedom of expression. The message to journalists inOman is clear: Criticizing the judiciary is off limits,”Amnesty International said in a statement.

The Gulf Center for Human Rights urged the UnitedNations, the European Union, the United States, Britainand other governments “to act immediately in order toprotect press freedom in the country and ensure therelease of the detained journalists”. Media watchdogReporters Without Borders (RSF) last week condemnedthe detention of Maamari and called for his immediaterelease. Oman is ranked 125th out of 180 countries inRSF’s 2016 World Press Freedom Index. — Agencies

Oman newspaper closed down for insulting...

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It was not immediately clear how many fighters oneither side may have been killed in the clashes, but theoperations center said earlier that at least 20 jihadistshad died in fighting for the university campus. Theoperations center also said pro-GNA forces had lostcontact with one of their military planes, without pro-viding further details. The IS-linked Amaq newsagency said the group’s fighters had downed a war-plane in Sirte, resulting in the pilot’s death.

Pro-GNA forces entered Sirte - 450 km east of Tripoliin June, after IS seized the city amid the chaos that fol-lowed the 2011 ouster of Muammar Gaddafi. Theiradvance slowed as the jihadists hit back with sniperfire, suicide attacks and car bombings but on Sundaypro-government forces said the “countdown” hadbegun for the final assault on IS’s holdout positions inthe city. Washington launched its air strikes on Aug 1,with President Barack Obama saying it was “inAmerica’s national security interest” to help the GNA“finish the job” of ousting IS from Sirte.

In a statement yesterday, the US Africa Commandsaid 29 strikes had been carried out against IS posi-tions as part of “Operation Odyssey Lightning” as ofTuesday. The pro-GNA operations centre said furtherUS raids were carried out yesterday but did not sayhow many. The raids targeted IS positions, destroyedtwo armored vehicles and stopped an explosives-laden car before it could reach loyalist forces, it said.

The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that US

commandos were working from a joint operationscenter on the outskirts of Sirte, the first time they havedirectly supported Libyan forces in the anti-IS fight.Quoting US off icials speaking on condition ofanonymity, the Post said the US forces were operatingalongside Brit ish troops, helping to coordinateAmerican air strikes and providing intelligence. ThePentagon would not comment on the specifics of thePost story, but has previously acknowledged small USteams are in Libya.

GNA chief Fayez Al-Sarraj had told Italy’s Corrieredella Sera in an interview published Wednesday thathis government had asked only for “air strikes whichmust be very precise and limited in time and geo-graphical scope”. “We do not need foreign troops onLibyan soil,” Sarraj said. Western powers are backingthe GNA in a bid to bring stability to Libya, which hasbeen wracked by turmoil since Gaddafi was oustedand killed in Oct 2011, with rival governments vyingfor power and armed groups battling to control vastenergy resources.

As well as fears over IS, Western nations are alsodeeply concerned over the fate of Libya’s vast oilreserves, the largest in Africa. Yesterday, six Westerncountries including Britain, the United States andFrance called for control of all oil facilities in Libya to“be transferred unconditionally and without precondi-tions or delay” to the GNA. The countries expressedparticular concern about “reports of increasing ten-sion” near Zueitina, one of Libya’s largest coastal oilfacilities. — AFP

Libya govt forces seize IS headquarters...

MANCHESTER: A man poses for pictures after purchasing a Manchester United shirt with the name and squadnumber of recent signing French midfielder Paul Pogba outside the Old Trafford Stadium on Tuesday. — AFP

PARIS: The world record fee paid out by ManchesterUnited for Paul Pogba could pay dividends for thePremier League club as long as the French star lives upto his billing, experts say. An increase in kit sales, anincrease in the image rights of the player, and potential-ly an added value on a future transfer could see Unitedending up turning a profit from football’s most expen-sive player. Experts at consultants Deloitte see theacquisition of Pogba as United’s possible bid to emulatethe “Galacticos” business model set by Real Madrid, theworld’s richest club with an annual revenue of Ä577 mil-lion (£495 million) in 2015. “That’s what it really lookslike,” said economist Bastien Drut in comments to AFP.

He highlights the recruitment of “big personalities”such as new manager Jose Mourinho, ZlatanIbrahimovic and especially Pogba, who is capable of“maximizing revenues through his marketability” alongthe lines of such trademark names as Cristiano Ronaldoor James Rodriguez, transferred for respective gold-mines and who have become unstoppable cash genera-tors. “Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer broke even after twoor three years just from kit sales,” according to Drut.“Manchester United is a little bit like Real Madrid, it’s abrand recognized throughout the world, so it is possibleto imagine that profit can be made from Pogba’s trans-fer in three or four years’ time.” But Pogba must deliverthe goods on the field and live up to his huge potential,according to Drut.

Pogba is already a fan favourite: he is the eighthhighest jersey seller in the world - his Juventus kit sold667,000 units last year according to the Euromericasagency. That’s promising for Manchester United, despitethe Frenchman being behind his two future teammatesZlatan Ibrahimovic (seventh, 865,000 sales with PSG)and Wayne Rooney (sixth, 877,000 sales) and he’s stillvery far from Lionel Messi whose shirt is the most soldworldwide (1,958,000).

In addition to kit sales, the marketing potential of theplayer known as “la Pioche” emerges as the other main

income source for Manchester United. With his uniquehair style, his popularity with young fans and his mil-lions of followers on social media (6.9 million onInstagram) the 23-year old is, just like David Beckham, a“marquee-player”. That expression defines a player whocan bring “an added economique value” to his club,sports marketing specialist Lionel Maltese told AFP.

United’s board members are counting on that.According to French newspaper L’Equipe, the player willearn Ä13 million a year (£11 million), but will give 80percent of his image rights to the Red Devils, at an esti-mated value of £45 million (£39 million) a year. “There isgoing to be a huge marketing push by ManchesterUnited on Pogba,” said Maltese.

In short the club seeks to use Pogba’s image rights toattract new sponsors, building revenue while at thesame time snatching market share from sporting finan-cial rivals such as Real Madrid and Barcelona whoexploit Ronaldo and Messi as their banners. Amongmarketing tools could be the partnership of United andkit provider Adidas who are also Pogba’s sponsor. Thispartnership is already the world’s most expensive(worth approximately Ä940 million over 10 years) andcould even increase with the arrival of the Frenchman.“There are going to be projects implemented to masssell Pogba and Manchester United spinoff products andreach even more clients,” said Maltese.

Despite a record amount of money spent by the RedDevils and of the fruitful partnership to come, Pogba isnot tied to the club for the rest of his career. If he fulfillshis huge potential, Manchester United could even sellhim on at a profit, said Drut. “If we assume that thetransfer fees continue to increase in the next few years,we can eventually anticipate that Manchester Unitedcould sell Pogba on for the same price or even a higherprice” says Drut. “His value can’t be multiplied 10 or 20times but it can grow by 5 percent or 10 percent. Theprofit margin is there but it isn’t very big”, said WladimirAndreff, an expert in football club economy — AFP

Pogba jackpot for Man United