JERUSALEM: Beitar Jerusalem has withdrawn the request to transfer 50% of the club's ownership to Emirati businessman, Hamed bin Khalifa.
The Israeli Football Association has published an agreement from the Rights Transfers Committee, that says that after the team has requested an extension to the deadline for providing the documents or a withdrawal option, it is now decided to revoke (for now), the request for the transfer of the rights to Hamad bin Khalifa.
Beitar’s owner and Bin Khalifa couldn’t provide the committee's required documents to approve the deal in the Israeli Football Association. That means that for now, the deal is off the table.
From Beitar Jerusalem in response: “After the request of the Rights Transfer Committee to receive more documents, and in hope to continue with the deal going forward, the club’s owner, Moshe Hogeg, was intending to fly to Dubai to consult with Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa. Unfortunately, [due to the lockdown regulations in Israel] the sky is closed [therefore, flights are unavailable at the moment], so we preffered to withdraw the request, and hand in a new one instead. The reports of the deal being off are false”.
Further details and a summary of one of the most dazzling sagas in world football is to follow.
It was supposed to be a night of great Israeli football, as Beitar Jerusalem and Maccabi Netanya were looking for their first trophy after a long time. The Israeli Cup final ended in a completely different way.