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Soccer / Gaydamak's future at Beitar hangs in balance By Nimrod Yitzhaki and Uri Telshir Rumors are rife surrounding the future of Arcadi Gaydamak at Beitar Jerusalem; even during the team's preparations for Monday's clash against table-topping Maccabi Netanya, the players could think or talk of little else. Everyone in the capital, it seems, knows exactly what the Russian-Israeli businessman plans to do with the soccer club he bought three years ago, following his embarrassing defeat in Tuesday's election for the Jerusalem mayorship. Gaydamak himself is holed up in his luxurious Caesarea home and is trying to recover from the bout of flu that has laid him low all week. He spends the daylight hours with his wife and daughter and, according to those who have chatted to him in the past few days, he is planning on holding a press conference early next week, at which he will discuss his future at the club. In the meantime, Gaydamak is consulting with members of his family about his future steps and is completely ignoring the advisers who have been at his side in recent months and whose advice garnered him just 3.6 percent of the vote in the mayoral election. Advertisement "All we can do is wait and see," said one Beitar insider yesterday. "Until we know exactly what Gaydamak is planning to do, all we can do is to continue to go about our business as usual and to stick to the goals we set ourselves. It doesn't do anyone any good to deal with speculation." According to sources close to the tycoon, Gaydamak is deliberating whether to sell the club outright or to bring in a partner to invest money and, further down the line, to replace him as club chairman. "Despite reports that a lien is about to placed on the club, he can still sell up if he wants to," said another source close to the club yesterday. "Beitar Jerusalem is not a private body and the most that can have a lien put on it is Gaydamak's company, but not the club itself." In what is being seen as an attempt to reduce some of the pressure on the players, the coaching staff banned them yesterday from giving interviews. Defeat at the hands of Maccabi Netanya on Monday will most likely lead the pressure cooker - which has been building up slowly but surely over the past weeks - to explode. Shimon Gershon, who has been out of action for over a month after suffering a stomach injury, returned yesterday to training. Ariel Harush and Toto Tamuz were excused training due to illness. Just believe Despite its dream start to the season, there are still large swathes of empty seats at Maccabi Netanya's stadium. Ahead of Monday's clash against Beitar, the Netanya management decided to send Daniel Jammer to try and convince the stay-away fans to attend more matches. "Our home stadium should be full for game," Jammer said yesterday. "We know that there are extenuating circumstances, but the team needs strong home support. Even if our stadium and training grounds are substandard, and people are saying that we are a mediocre team, something magical could happen to this town and this team. We have the power to change things, to accomplish things. Just believe." Bookmark to del.icio.us   Enough is enough Livni says time will come when Israel tells Gaza militants: Enough! Oxbridge anti-Semitism Report: Oxford students face anti-Semitism charges over 'pretty Jewish girls' party.

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