US investors ditch bid to purchase Israeli soccer team

Jerusalem-based soccer team Beitar Jerusalem and its owner Arcadi Gaydamak plan to sue Dan Adler and Adam Levin for reneging on the contract they signed to purchase the team in mid-July.

Beitar Jerusalem will likely sue Adler and Levin personally, not only for breach of the contract, but also for the damage and mental anguish sustained by the team. "They ditched the team at a sensitive and difficult time. We will not sit idly by," Beitar officials said. "They will pay dearly, we will make sure of it. Their behavior is deplorable and has really harmed us. They have no qualms in having their disappearance lead to Beitar's extinction."

Gaydamak's attorney Israel Shalev sent a strong letter to Levin's representatives after their baffling attempt to change the signed agreement. "First of all, we were shocked to receive your letter [requesting to introduce changes to the contract] in light of your clients repeatedly assuring us that funds to meet the obligations undertaken pursuant to the agreement had been transferred and then that they were to go through any moment, and then that they were to appear in our account the next morning," the letter read.

Shalev goes on to write: "And here, in lieu of getting the money we were sent your letter, which is nothing but a fig leaf to disguise the outrageous actions of your clients, Mr. Dan Adler and Mr. Adam Levin, who are in material breach of the agreement to which they are a signatory party, without valid justification and/or explanations."

Shalev also referred to claims made by associates of Adler and Levin, that cite the injunction won by Guma Aguiar as the grounds for making changes in the agreement. "Your clients' attempts to have the legal process in the case of Aguiar serve as a pretext for such obvious material breaches of the agreement is outright preposterous as your clients have provided an excessive amount of interviews over the past two weeks, both prior and after the court hearing, and made repeated promises attesting to their commitment to the agreement. This renders every claim that goes against what they have said in court to be utterly unfounded."

A sudden U-turn

Beitar people have lamented on Thursday over Adler and Levin's unilateral decision to apparently pull out of their contract to purchase the team from tycoon Arcadi Gaydamak. Adler and Levin have evaded questions as to why the $400,000 to be given to a trustee had not been transferred. They later cut off all contact from Beitar, a move which alarmed the team and prompted General Manager Itzik Korenfein to actively seek replacements to save the team.

Adler and Levin attempted to find investors for the team, but after two weeks of people refusing to be identified with Beitar, Levin decided he no longer wants to transfer money to the club.

"Adam understood that they made a mistake and notified Dan that he no longer wants ownership of Beitar," an associate of Adler and Levin said on Thursday. "Members of the Left told them that Beitar is a firmly entrenched right-wing team, and that led them [Adler and Levin] to change their minds," he said.

Rescue Mission

After Adler and Levin's pullout became apparent, Kornfein began an intensive drive to raise enough money to maintain the player's salaries in time for the review of player contracts.

Despite generous offers for the team's goalkeeper, Ariel Harosh, Kornfein declared he is "not for sale." Possible courses of action include selling striker Hen Azriel to Ha'Poel Tel Aviv or Maccabi Haifa, while holding back Kornfield's salary for a year, trimming midfielder Aviram Baruchyan and striker Amit Ben Shushan's salaries and finally, selling the remaining 20 percent Beitar has in striker Toto Tamuz.

In any case it appears that Beitar will play this season as the oversight committee voiced its support for the club in light of Adler and Levin's sudden withdrawal.

Maybe Guma-

Guma Aguiar, who previously voiced his desire to own Beitar, is likely to enter the fray as result of Adler and Levin's vanishing act. "I thought this would happen," he said. "They didn't strike me as serious guys from the get go. Beitar's well-being is always on my mind, as it is now as well. I will try to help Beitar as much as possible," he said.

Aguiar's mother and wife had vehemently opposed his return to participating and giving money to Beitar. Both have tried to appeal to his emotions and remind him what happened during his last foray into Beitar.

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