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Far-right Israeli football fans rebel over Beitar Jerusalem's new Arab owner
Source: The Observer
Far-right Israeli football fans rebel over Beitar Jerusalem’s new Arab owner
Hardcore group threaten boycott and hold protest at training session after Abu Dhabi sheikh buys 50% stake in top team
by Oliver Holmes and Quique Kierszenbaum in Jerusalem
Sun 27 Dec 2020 08.35 GMT
An Israeli premier league football team whose most hardcore fans chant “Death to Arabs” faces a crisis of introspection following a landmark deal that saw the club part-sold to an unlikely new owner: an Arab sheikh.
Beitar Jerusalem – the only Israeli team never to have fielded an Arab player – has been grappling with the news that, as of this month, a member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, now owns 50% of the club.
“The deal has turned many fans against the club,” said Moar Ifrach, a loyal supporter, as he sat with friends on wooden stands at Beitar’s training pitches on a rainy December day.
While Ifrach backs the deal, which he hopes could give Beitar the success of another club buoyed by Gulf money, Manchester City, he feels that a small cohort of extreme fans will never accept it. “The reputation for racism did not come from nowhere,” he said.
-snip-
Hardcore group threaten boycott and hold protest at training session after Abu Dhabi sheikh buys 50% stake in top team
by Oliver Holmes and Quique Kierszenbaum in Jerusalem
Sun 27 Dec 2020 08.35 GMT
An Israeli premier league football team whose most hardcore fans chant “Death to Arabs” faces a crisis of introspection following a landmark deal that saw the club part-sold to an unlikely new owner: an Arab sheikh.
Beitar Jerusalem – the only Israeli team never to have fielded an Arab player – has been grappling with the news that, as of this month, a member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, now owns 50% of the club.
“The deal has turned many fans against the club,” said Moar Ifrach, a loyal supporter, as he sat with friends on wooden stands at Beitar’s training pitches on a rainy December day.
While Ifrach backs the deal, which he hopes could give Beitar the success of another club buoyed by Gulf money, Manchester City, he feels that a small cohort of extreme fans will never accept it. “The reputation for racism did not come from nowhere,” he said.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/27/far-right-israeli-football-fans-rebel-over-beitar-jerusalems-new-arab-owner