Sign In

Delhi News Daily

  • Home
  • Fashion
  • Business
  • World News
  • Technology
  • Sports
  • Politics
  • Lifestyle
  • Entertainment
Reading: Sheikh who wrested soccer & coddles warlords – Times of India – Delhi News Daily
Share

Delhi News Daily

Font ResizerAa
Search
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
© 2022 Foxiz News Network. Ruby Design Company. All Rights Reserved.
Delhi News Daily > Blog > World News > Sheikh who wrested soccer & coddles warlords – Times of India – Delhi News Daily
World News

Sheikh who wrested soccer & coddles warlords – Times of India – Delhi News Daily

delhinewsdaily
Last updated: July 1, 2025 2:36 am
delhinewsdaily
Share
SHARE


Sheikh who wrested soccer & coddles warlords
File photo: A Sudanese soldier looks through documents found in the bedroom of a Rapid Support Forces commander, days after the paramilitary was driven out of that part of Khartoum. (Picture credit: NYT)

NAIROBI: Weeks before Sudan flamed into a calamitous civil war, one of the richest men in the Middle East, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, welcomed an architect of the chaos to his Persian Gulf palace.The sheikh, a younger brother of the powerful ruler of the United Arab Emirates, is recognised in the West as a collector of superyachts and racehorses, and is perhaps best known as the owner of Manchester City, a hugely successful English soccer team. Last year, his team in New York won approval to build a $780 million soccer stadium in the borough of Queens, the first in the city.Yet there he was, in February 2023, openly entertaining a notorious commander from the deserts of western Sudan — someone who had seized power in a coup, built a fortune on illicit gold and was accused of widespread atrocities. Mansour had hosted the Sudanese commander, Gen Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, two years earlier at an arms fair in the UAE. When Sudan’s conflict exploded, in April 2023, Mansour helped the general wage war. Charities controlled by Mansour set up a hospital, saying they were treating civilians. But according to US and United Nations officials, that humanitarian effort was also a cover for the secret Emirati effort to smuggle drones and other powerful weapons to Dagalo’s group, the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF.A flood of evidence has emerged of massacres, mass rape and genocide by Dagalo’s forces. The Emiratis deny arming any side in the war, but the US has intercepted regular phone calls between Dagalo and the leaders of the UAE, including Mansour.An enigma of a SheikhDespite owning one of the world’s most famous soccer teams, Mansour, 54, has remained an enigma, often showing a chameleonlike ability to disappear into the background. Yet, in interviews with more than a dozen US, African and Arab officials, he is described as being at the sharp end of his country’s aggressive push to expand its influence across Africa and the Middle East.In places such as Libya and Sudan, they say, Mansour has coddled warlords and autocrats as part of a sweeping Emirati drive to acquire ports and strategic minerals, counter Islamist movements and establish the Persian Gulf nation as a heavyweight regional power. “He’s the fixer, the handler, the one sent to places without much glamour or publicity, but which are important to the Emiratis,” said Andrew Miller, a former senior US diplomat.Tides beginning to changeLast year, the British govt passed a law that, in effect, prevented Mansour from acquiring a venerable UK newspaper, fearing it could affect press freedom. Trials in the United States and Malaysia have uncovered accusations that Mansour profited from 1 MDB scandal, one of the world’s biggest financial frauds. A UK panel is considering sweeping accusations that Manchester City has cheated on a grand scale. If found guilty, the team could be fined or stripped of titles.The story of the EmiratesIn his grandparents’ time, most inhabitants of what is now the UAE were date farmers, camel herders and pearl fishermen. The discovery of oil in the 1960s transformed Dubai into an archetype of petrostate bling. The capital, Abu Dhabi, is a finance hot spot and aspiring AI superpower.One family sits at the top. The Al Nahyans of Abu Dhabi are the world’s second-richest family after the Waltons of the US, by some estimates. They have ruled the UAE since 1971, and their power is concentrated in a group known as the “Bani Fatima” — six sons of the favoured wife of the country’s founding father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.Three of the sons dominate. The eldest brother, Mohammed, 64, known as MBZ, has been the de facto ruler for over two decades. Under him is Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, 56, often referred to as the “spy sheikh” — a sunglasses-wearing national security adviser and fitness enthusiast who has bonded with Zuckerberg over jujitsu. The thirdmost powerful brother, Mansour, as deputy PM and VP, controls key institutions, including the UAE central bank, the national oil company and the Abu Dhabi criminal authority. He chairs Mubadala, a fast-growing $330 billion sovereign wealth fund with investments in AI, semiconductors and space tourism.





Source link

Share This Article
Twitter Email Copy Link Print
What do you think?
Love0
Sad0
Happy0
Sleepy0
Angry0
Dead0
Wink0
Previous Article ‘The America Party’: Elon Musk warns lawmakers against Donald Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’; says alternative needed if ‘insane spending bill’ passes – Times of India – Delhi News Daily
Next Article ‘Seize means of production’: Zohran Mamdani’s ‘end goal’ gives communist refugees chills- viral video – Times of India – Delhi News Daily
Leave a comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Saudi backed EV maker, Lucid, breaks world record with 1,205 km drive across Europe in single charge | World News – Times of India – Delhi News Daily
  • UAE: 350 special Dubai number plates up for auction in August, key dates, eligibility, all you need to know | World News – Times of India – Delhi News Daily
  • ‘Continue legacy’: Eric Trump hints at political dynasty; suggests someone from Trump family could run for US president – Times of India – Delhi News Daily
  • London airspace shut: All outbound UK flights hit by air traffic control ‘technical issue’ – Times of India – Delhi News Daily
  • Even nuclear experts are at a loss right now – Delhi News Daily

Recent Comments

No comments to show.

You Might Also Like

World News

$30bn for Iran? Never heard of this ‘ridiculous idea’, says Trump; dismisses report, calls it a ‘hoax’ – Times of India – Delhi News Daily

US President Donald Trump (AP) Donald Trump on Friday (local time) firmly dismissed reports in the US media that his…

4 Min Read
World News

Middle East conflict: B-2 bombers back in US after strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities- watch video – Times of India – Delhi News Daily

A B-2 bomber arrives at Whiteman Air Force Base Mo., Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/David Smith) The US Air…

5 Min Read
World News

‘100 different people’: Ghislaine Maxwell gives DOJ exclusive information on Epstein, expects to be pardoned – Times of India – Delhi News Daily

Ghislaine Maxwell gave information about 100 people associated with Epstein to the DOJ in two-day interview. After two days of…

5 Min Read
World News

US arrests man accused of firebomb plot against Embassy in Israel – Times of India – Delhi News Daily

A man accused of attempting to burn down the US Embassy in Tel Aviv was arrested in New York on…

6 Min Read

Delhi News Daily

© Delhi News Daily Network.

Incognito Web Technologies

Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?