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Moshe Hogeg, one of the owners of Beitar Jerusalem FC soccer club, plays with a ball, in the team training ground in Jerusalem, December 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
AP At the age of 39, Moshe Hogeg has made millions of dollars trading in cryptocurrency, bought one of Israel’s most prominent soccer teams and brought in a wealthy Emirati sheikh as his new co-owner.
Now comes what may be his biggest challenge.
As owner of Beitar Jerusalem, the only major Israeli soccer club never to have signed an Arab player, Hogeg says he is determined to remove the stain of racism from the team and sideline its most rabid anti-Arab fans, all while transforming Beitar into a soccer powerhouse with a diverse lineup.
2020/12/29 15:39 Moshe Hogeg, one of the owners of Beitar Jerusalem FC soccer club, plays with a ball, in the team training ground in Jerusalem, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020.. Moshe Hogeg, one of the owners of Beitar Jerusalem FC soccer club, plays with a ball, in the team training ground in Jerusalem, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020. The owner of Israel s Beitar Jerusalem soccer club has given himself an ambitious task. Weeks after bringing in a wealthy Emirati investor as co-owner, Hogeg says he is determined to remove the stain of racism from his team. Beitar is the only major Israeli team never to have signed an Arab player, and its fans have been known to make racist chants at matches. Hogeg says he and his Emirati partner aim to turn the team into both an Israeli soccer powerhouse and a model of coexistence. We are actively looking for A-class players, he says. Religion is not a factor by any means. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
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21st December 2020
BBC News reports on the massive seizure of the drug Captagon, an amphetamine, in Italy which revealed the scale of illegal drug production in Syria. The drug is used recreationally across the Middle East and is also taken by fighters who say it gives them ‘a feeling of invincibility on the frontlines.’ The report notes that this ‘is the largest haul ever seized, with a street value of more than $1bn (£900m) and was followed by smaller drug raids across the Middle East, in what appears to be a co-ordinated effort against the lucrative narcotics trade likely run by the Syrian regime and its allies.’