Israeli basketball player Deni Avdija may soon be shooting hoops in the interest of Qatar, at least in a minor way.
That’s because the nation’s sovereign wealth fund, the Qatari Investment Authority (QIA), is set to buy a 5% stake in Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the parent company of the Avdija’s NBA team, the Washington Wizards, along with the NHL’s Washington Capitals and the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, according to multiple reports.
Qatar and Israel have no formal diplomatic relations, though the Gulf state permitted direct flights from Israel last November for the FIFA World Cup. Now, sports appear to tie the two nations again together.
If the league approves the deal, it will have been the first time a sovereign wealth fund bought ownership into an American team, Sportico reports.
NBA spokesperson Mike Bass said that the league’s Board of Governors decided in November to allow “passive, non-controlling, minority investments in NBA teams by institutional investors, including university endowments, foreign and domestic pension funds and sovereign wealth funds, subject to a set of policy guidelines adopted at that time.”
Qatari presence in international sporta
Though the $4 million deal is Qatar’s first foray into US sports teams, the Middle Eastern country has embedded itself into international sports markets.
Qatar hosted soccer’s World Cup for the first time last year, and holds a majority stake in Paris Saint-Germain. Last year, Qatari Sports Investments bought 21.7% of the shares of Portuguese Sports Club S.C. Braga,
Avdija, who is 22, formerly played for the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv before being drafted by the Wizards in 2020. The Washington Wizards and the QIA did not respond to comment by press time.