Betar Jerusalem’s announcement in basketball that it had reached an agreement with investors from Dubai to pour an imaginary sum of 8 million euros into the humble club over the next three years was perceived almost from the beginning, in free language, as “delusional.” Why would Dubai businessmen want to invest in a first division basketball team? The amount of 8 million euros also does not make sense on any scale, and the fact that the Jerusalemites did not want to reveal the identity of the investors of course did not contribute to the credibility of the story. Now we reveal here more details from the story that surprised many in Israeli basketball.
Celebrating came out at the last minute
In fact, Betar’s conclusion at this stage is solely with the mediator Naum Cohen, the same person who connected Moshe Hogg and Betar in football with Sheikh Hamed bin Khalifa. Cohen undertook to find more than one investor in Betar in basketball, and the final amount, according to the agreement, will be about 8 million euros. The connection between Cohen and Betar in basketball was created by Nir Pribash, an Israeli businessman who is considered a close friend of Cohen, and according to those involved in the deal, it was this connection that caused Cohen to sign the agreement with Betar and not other teams trying to track their way to the deal. Similar.
The basketball team’s original plan was to get under the football deal at all. The president of the basketball club, Mordechai Shalev, agreed with the owners of Betar Moshe Hogg that the deal would also include the basketball department as one piece, but when Hogg’s talks with the emirates gained momentum, he decided to separate basketball from football and in fact left basketball out of the picture. In retrospect, convinced of basketball, it was a decision that only helped them reach an independent agreement with Cohen.
Shalev and his entourage arrived in Dubai on December 17, and for about two weeks negotiated with Cohen. Shalev’s goal is to attract a number of investors who are not sheikhs, but banks and real estate companies. The group’s surroundings hope that an agreement will be signed with the first investor in the coming days, and that the group will be able to announce an increased budget for the coming season.
Immigration “under the table”? Not so fast
At the strategic level, the Betars intend to contact the basketball association and ask to “jump” at least one league, subject to proof of budgetary ability – as happened in the past with Hapoel Eilat, after the takeover of the late Moti Amsalem and Doron Hercikovich. But they are likely to face a “small” problem: the union’s bylaws do not, under any circumstances, allow a team to “jump” from league to league. The case of Eilat was unique, because the group was registered on the infrastructure of MK Baka, and in fact a unification was made between the groups. The place in the Premier League was given to the team only after none of the teams in Leumit had the financial ability to qualify for the Premier League.
In fact, Betar Jerusalem in basketball has already tried this move. A few years ago, the team’s chairman and coach Gabi Geffen, together with the current mayor of Jerusalem, Moshe Leon, came to a meeting with the heads of the basketball association. “We have a promise of significant investment from some very big players in the economy,” the two promised, “so we are asking for a ticket to the National League.” The basketball association heard, listened, and respectfully sent the Betars to continue the promotion of promotion from the second division to the first division, not before they made it clear: there is no jumping of teams from the league to the league.
In extreme cases, a team can qualify for a more senior league not through sporting promotion, only if all the teams in the same league give up their potential place. In the case of Betar Jerusalem, 54 more teams play in the first division in addition to it, and in order for it to qualify nationally, it will need all 54 to give up the chance to qualify, in addition to the economic collapse of a national team. In other words: illegal immigration through the hardwood leagues cannot happen, and if it does, Betar will be in 55th place in the queue.
City Hall fears: “There are too many holes in the deal”
In the first phase, Betar intends to change the design of the team uniform for the coming season, and the gauntlet of Naum Cohen’s girlfriend will be on the uniform. Of course, every investor who enters Israeli sports, and basketball that is not budgeted in particular, is to be welcomed, but officials in the Jerusalem municipality, which supports the team, claim that there are too many “holes” in the deal. “Who promises to Betar that investors will come to pour this amount?”, Says a source in the municipality, “We would be sorry to see them disappointed, because they have really done beautiful things in recent years.”
The group’s president, Mordechai Shalev, is sure that no one is trying to “make a round” of his group: “He has been in Dubai for two weeks with Cohen’s speech and his people. We saw their standard of living, the offices, the staffs, and got the impression that this was a very serious company. I can tell you that in the coming days I hope we can announce the first investor, and he will probably be from the real estate and finance world in Dubai. “For the first season, we are aiming for the 300,000 euro budget, in the hope that these resources will help us open negotiations with the basketball association to qualify for a higher league.”