TEL-AVIV: Beitar Jerusalem has apparently called off its highly controversial sale to a member of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Nahyan.

Local media has reported that Beitar have withdrawn from the deal to sell a 50pc stake in the club.

Beitar’s owner Moshe Hogeg faced heavy criticism from the club’s anti-Arab fanbase after the deal was announced. Al Nahyan had promised to invest $90m in Beitar over the next 10 years but an investigation by the Israel Football Association doubted the proposal’s credibility.

A reported by the Megiddo financial investigations company concluded that Al Nahyan owned many inactive firms and had been allegedly connected with businessmen involved in fraud and money laundering.

The vast majority of his stated wealth of $1.6bn was held in non-tradable bonds belonging to the neatr-bankrupt government of Venezuela.

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