Tabib still vacillating on sale of Beitar Jerusalem
"Fans claim that every time players reach a high level, they are either sold or released. The fans are legitimately not willing to accept this from a top-tier team like Jerusalem," said Avi Luzon.
By JERUSALEM POST SPORTS STAFFUpdated: AUGUST 10, 2018 03:24
Beitar Jerusalem’s ownership situation is still in limbo as current owner Eli Tabib is taking a hard line on negotiations of the club’s sale.The debts of Beitar, which stand at approximately NIS 8 million, seems to be what is at the heart of the delay in closing the deal from Eli Tabib to Moshe Hogeg.Hogeg’s side apparently requires a signed document detailing all the debts of the club together with the sale amount agreed upon: NIS 20 million.The potential purchaser is not willing to move from the agreement to pay NIS 4 million for the outstanding debts.Tabib, from his point of view, is not willing to compromise and has made it clear to the people involved that the sale of the team must be “inclusive of all debts” and if not, he will not sell.In additional to claiming he has dropped his purchase price demands, Tabib contends that he has other offers on the table to buy Beitar.The parties are expected to continue negotiations and if there is no progress by the beginning of next week, the deal could fall apart.Maccabi Petah Tikva chairman and member of the Israel Football Association’s executive board, Avi Luzon, updated the Army Radio program on the latest details in the negotiations.“Hogeg is very interested in purchasing Beitar. He sees this as a community project, he has ideas on how to change the atmosphere in Teddy in the positive sense.Luzon continued: “Eli Tabib does not understand that Beitar Jerusalem is not Ashdod, Kfar Saba Ra’anana or Maccabi Petah Tikva. Fans claim that every time players reach a high level, they are either sold or released. The fans are legitimately not willing to accept this from a top-tier team like Jerusalem. It is also legitimate in my opinion that Tabib says he does not want to waste money. But if he does not want to keep the club at an elite level, let him move aside.”