The astute businessman that he is, Al Habtoor is known for putting his money where his mouth is. He not only wants to start a new club that will start participation at the top-most level in the UAE, but also be financially independent at the same time. “The ball is now in the court of the officials [the UAE Football Association]. What I have seen tonight has been something great. There is so much of talent here and I am convinced that we can have a competitive team under the Al Habtoor banner. I am all for talent and that is what I want to do by setting up my own club,” Al Habtoor said.

Great thoughts, and all in the interest of the sport. But how will the authorities respond. For starters with they will have to consider the track record of the Al Habtoor banner. Once that is aside they will have to ensure that certain rules pertaining to the professional running of the game are tailored to an extent. No team can just show up and state its intention of playing rightaway at the top-most level without going through a few seasons of earning promotions through the ranks. But that is left for the authorities to decide, and as Al Habtoor pointed out, the ball is truly in their court awaiting a decision.

But on the field, the night belonged to Shaheen Tyres and Ahmed Sania along with his two goals on either side of half-time. Ahmed Sania struck in the final minute of the first half and then scored the second in the very final second to cut out Fouad Faisal’s equalizer for Diamond Lease.

Watched by a house-full crowd mostly consisting of employees from the Al Habtoor Group of Companies, the final was a close affair with neither team giving nothing away to the other.

Khalaf Al Habtoor presented the winner’s trophy to Shaheen Tyres in the presence of Sultan Al Habtoor, Chairman, Al Habtoor Motors and former Al Nasr Club player Ebrahim Tahlak.

The invitational tournament was held to mark the 40th anniversary celebrations of the Al Habtoor Group in which 12 teams representing long-term partners of the Al Habtoor Group were invited to participate.

Earlier, Samah Hussain had scored four and Mahmoud Jumaa had pumped in three to aid Al Habtoor to the third place with a 7-3 win against Hezam Trading.