Gaidamak compleates Israeli Beitar Jerusalem takeover

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After taking over the Hapoel Jerusalem basketball club earlier this summer, Russian-Israeli billionaire businessman Arkadi Gaidamak snapped 100% stake in the Premier division club. In addition, Gaidamak contributed NIS 2m (�359,935) to Arab sector club Bnei Sakhnin in a deal brokered by Finance Minister Ehud Olmert.

Club chairman and co-owners Meir Fenigil and Meir Levi met with Gaidamak and finalized the deal within hours.  Although Gaidamak owns the club, he will leave the day to day running in the hands of the current owners and will upgrade the club financially. "This is an enormous step forward for Beitar Jerusalem and its fans," Fenigil said. "We will become a much stronger team now."

Gaidamak is expected to pump some NIS 7m (�1,259,770) into the club already this season to push its budget up to NIS 35m (�6,298,370) and bring it up to par with Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa. Some of the money will be used to cover past debts. Gaidamak is said to want to see the club challenge for the championship this season, despite its lackluster form in recent years.