Owners of Sydney gym where man was shot dead ‘not fit and proper’ for combat sports

The owners of a gym where a father was shot dead have had their pasts detailed in court proceedings after their registrations were cancelled.

The owners of a Sydney gym where a father was shot dead as a screaming 12-year-old boy watched on have had their combat sports registrations cancelled.

Hany Sbat and Adam Omar co-own the Elite Fight Force Gym at Sefton, where 40-year-old Taha Sabbagh was murdered while sitting outside in his luxury Mercedes in March 2023.

Now, the pair have been ruled not “fit and proper” persons for the combat sport industry after a tribunal upheld a decision to cancel their registrations, due to “associations with people known to be involved in serious criminal activity” and their own criminal records.

News.com.au does not suggest Mr Sbat or Mr Omar were in any way involved in the shooting.

Adam Omar (left) and Hany Sbat. Picture: Instagram

The men co-own Elite Fight Force gym in Sefton.

The Combat Sports Authority of NSW cancelled Mr Sbat and Mr Omar’s registrations in January and February last year, respectively, and also banned Mr Sbat from attending any combat sport fights or weigh-ins for three years.

Both men appealed to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), which heard of professional mixed martial arts fighter Mr Sbat’s past violence and Mr Omar’s history of performance enhancing drug possession.

NCAT noted the shooting of Mr Sabbagh in its ruling, stating that “one public theory of the murder is that the victim was mistaken for Mr Sbat”.

Murdered father and chauffeur Taha Sabbagh (left) pictured with social media star Hasbulla.

During a recent trial for a man now convicted of Mr Sabbagh’s murder, Crown prosecutor Christopher Taylor told the jury it was possible “the shooter got the wrong bloke”.

Lawyers for the gym owners said their clients denied “any association with active criminals who commit crimes or any association with organised crime groups and networks”.

“While each applicant admits to past criminal behaviour, both applicants submit they have made positive changes to their lives since their previous convictions,” the NCAT judgment states.

A detective sergeant called to give evidence at the hearing said the men were associated with people connected to organised crime.

Mr Omar, known as coach Yass, admitted his past unlawful use of steroids but said that was necessary to treat medical conditions including diabetes and pain from injuries.

The tribunal heard police found nine vials of steroids during a 2018 search of the gym, and then in 2022 located steroids and human growth hormones in a kitchenette.

Mr Omar admitted the steroids found in 2018 were for his own personal use and he received a $150 fine. He was in 2020 handed a conditional release order after being found with 17 vials and 400 tablets of steroids.

He then admitted in 2021 to possession of cannabis, cannabis oil, a grinder and steroids for personal use.

“On at least two occasions Mr Omar told the court he had learned his lesson and would no longer obtain and use illegal substances but then subsequently was charged with further offences for further conduct relating to illegal substances,” the NCAT found.

Mr Sbat, the tribunal heard, had previously pleaded guilty to charges of stalk/intimidate, affray and destruction of property over an incident in 2011.

Both men denied any association with criminal elements.

Mr Sbat with UFC champion Islam Makhachev. Pictures: Instagram

In 2013 he elbowed a nightclub patron in the temple and in 2015 punched and elbowed a staff member at Melbourne’s Crown Casino. Mr Sbat received a lifetime ban from the casino.

He is subject to a firearms prohibition order, but submitted to NCAT he made no challenge to that order as he “has no need for guns or weapons”.

NCAT ruled it could not be satisfied Mr Sbat would engage in combat sports in accordance with its rules, finding he was not a fit and proper person to hold registration and that his registration would “bring the industry as a whole into disrepute”.

“This is because Mr Sbat’s prior criminal offending is serious. Of particular concern, in the context of combat sports, is that most of his prior offences involved the use of violence,” the ruling states.

Police at Elite Fight Force after Taha Sabbagh was shot in March 2023. Picture: Jeremy Piper

The tribunal also upheld a ban that “prevents Mr Sbat from entering a premises where a combat sports contest or weigh in is being conducted”.

“On the material before the Tribunal, particularly the expert evidence the Tribunal accepts, that Mr Sbat is an associate of people who are connected to an organised crime group, the Tribunal is satisfied the issuing of a prohibition order was appropriate to protect the public.”

As for Mr Omar, the tribunal accepted that the use of performance enhancing drugs “strikes at the heart” of integrity, fairness and safety in combat sports.

It found Mr Omar’s stated recent and intended future use of performance enhancing drugs via prescription meant it could not be satisfied he would engage within the rules of combat sports.

“Therefore, in all the circumstances on the material before the Tribunal, the Tribunal is not satisfied Mr Omar is a fit and proper person to hold registration under the CS Act,” it found

Originally published as Owners of Sydney gym where man was shot dead ‘not fit and proper’ for combat sports