On the one hand, Betar Jerusalem has found itself searching for a financial
savior time and again in recent years, forcing it to battle bankruptcy every
offseason.
On the other, we are talking about Eli Tabib.
You would
have thought Tabib would have had enough of local soccer considering his recent
experience with Hapoel Tel Aviv, but the 56-year-old Kfar Saba native just keeps
coming back for more.
Perhaps it is a corrective emotional experience he
is searching for at Betar.
After all, how else can you explain going from
Hapoel to its sworn arch-enemy within months?
Hapoel fans made Tabib’s final few
months at the club a living hell, protesting outside his house, as well as at
the team’s matches, while also harassing his poor wife.
Tabib initially
vowed he would never leave, if only to spite those who swore to chase him out of
town.
However, he eventually comprehended the impossible situation he
found himself in and sold the club to former Knesset member Haim Ramon in
July.
Now he has his sights set on Betar, with his lawyers set to meet
those of current owner Arkadi Gaydamak on Wednesday with the intention of
finalizing an agreement.
Tabib made a point of attending the club’s
recent matches, including last month’s 3-2 victory over Hapoel Tel Aviv, and
Betar is desperate for his money, which he will only be able to inject next
summer, a full year after he cut ties with Hapoel.
However, you can’t
help but wonder if Tabib is in fact the type of owner Betar needs.
After
leaving Hapoel Kfar Saba in complete ruin following his 16 years (1994-2009) as
boss, Tabib officially bought a 50 percent stake at Hapoel to join Moni Harel as
a co-owner in the summer of 2010.
It all began to go downhill when Tabib
seized full control of the club in the summer of 2011, with Hapoel operating
without a chairman, CEO and spokesperson at one stage following their
simultaneous resignation in protest of the owner’s conduct.
Hapoel fans
united in a campaign to oust Tabib, but it took time until he finally understood
that a soccer club is unlike any other business and threw in the
towel.
Nevertheless, it seems that he learned nothing from his time at
Hapoel considering his senseless decision to attend the showdown between Betar
and the Reds two weeks ago.
Tabib added an unnecessary point of friction
between two sets of supporters who already staunchly detested each other, and
did so simply to promote his own interests.
Assuming a deal is reached,
he will arrive at Betar looking to prove all his doubters wrong, but it remains
to be seen how much money he will in fact invest.
Hapoel’s income from
its 2010/11 Champions League campaign allowed Tabib to run the club without
using almost any of his own funds, a privilege he will not enjoy in
Jerusalem.
Betar would love to have an owner of the likes of Maccabi
Haifa’s Jacob Shahar or Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Mitch Goldhar, but in its current
situation it can’t really afford to be picky.
There are hardly
millionaires standing in line looking to flush their money down the drain of an
Israeli soccer club, especially one with a racist reputation like
Betar.
After seven years, Gaydamak announced in June that he no longer
wants any involvement with the club, saying that he will transfer the ownership
of Betar to anyone willing to take on its debts and financial
commitments.
According to Gaydamak, he invested over NIS 378 million in
the club, although he only budgeted Betar sporadically over the past three
years.
Chairman Itzik Kornfein was left with the painstaking task of
trying to keep the club afloat with the likes of former sponsor Guma Aguiar and
the sale of star players.
There was of course also the short, yet
unforgettable, episode starring American clowns Dan Adler and Adam Levin, who
cynically bailed out on the club after already coming to an agreement to
purchase it in July 2011.
Betar fans have seen it all and thousands of
them combined forces this past summer, forking out over NIS 1,000 each before
eventually transferring the cash-stricken club NIS 2.1 million in return for
three of nine places on the directorate.
However, the supporters
understand that they only provided a short-term solution for what is a long-term
problem, and the vast majority seem to be in favor of Tabib taking
charge.
District Court Judge Amnon Straschnov may have ruled Tabib to be
unfit to own a soccer club way back in August 2000 due to his criminal record,
but at this point there seems to be only one answer to Betar’s unenviable
dilemma.
A Tabib takeover is far from ideal, but as things currently
stand, it is the lesser of two evils, one which Betar will just have to live
with.
allon@jpost.com