Abu Dhabi Sheikh Buys Stake in Israel’s Beitar Soccer Club
Monday, December 7, 2020 06:05 PM
By Alisa Odenheimer
(Bloomberg) --A member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family agreed to buy a 50% stake in Jerusalem’s Beitar soccer club, months after the United Arab Emirates and Israel agreed to normalize relations.
The buyer, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, has committed to invest more than 300 million shekels ($92 million) in the club over the next 10 years, Beitar said on its website on Monday. Abu Dhabi is the capital of the UAE, which includes the business hub of Dubai.
The club, which gained notoriety for its hardcore supporters’ chants of “death to Arabs,” had said in September it was in talks to secure a “large investment” from the UAE.