MS Ashdod has taken its battle to stay in contention for a swift return to the Premier League all the way to Israeli football's Supreme Tribunal, petitioning the game's highest disciplinary body to postpone Monday's National League opener against Hapoel Afula.
Attorney Amit Hadad, acting for the relegated club, filed the urgent request asking the tribunal's presidency to either order the match delayed pending a further ruling or, failing that, to grant an interim injunction freezing the fixture altogether. ONE reports the panel was due to convene to hear arguments from both sides on Monday afternoon, hours before the scheduled kickoff.
Ashdod's argument centres on timing rather than football. The club says that playing the match on schedule, before the full implications of a serious indictment against Ironi Tiberias become clear, would create what its petition calls "expanding reliance" that would "diminish future freedom of action" - in effect, an outcome that could never be reversed even if Tiberias is later hit with harsh sanctions.
The case against Tiberias is the reason for the urgency. According to the indictment, filed by the Israel Football Association in late July, club officials arranged banned intravenous infusions for six players in the locker room in the days before a decisive relegation match against Ashdod on May 3, which Tiberias won 3-0. The infusions were administered without a doctor present and reportedly exceeded permitted volumes under association medical rules.
The indictment names owner Miki Bitan as the instigator, alleging he pushed for the infusions after a league game against Ironi Kiryat Shmona and pursued the plan even though he was barred from any involvement in club affairs under a settlement agreement signed only weeks earlier, in April. Tiberias faces charges of aiding the use of banned substances under aggravating circumstances, breaching association regulations, and failing to comply with the earlier court-ordered settlement.
Ashdod, for its part, ended up going down regardless. The club lost 1-0 to Hapoel Jerusalem on May 13, sealing its relegation to the National League after a decade in the top flight - a fall it now argues might have been avoided, or could still be reversed, depending on how severely Tiberias is punished.
Possible sanctions against Tiberias range from a points deduction to relegation from the Premier League, either of which could theoretically open a path for Ashdod to reclaim its top-flight place instead. That is why the club is anxious to avoid banking any results - starting with the Afula fixture - while the case remains unresolved.
This is not Ashdod's first move in the dispute. The club has already asked the Football Association to freeze league fixtures involving both clubs until the Tiberias case is settled, and separately applied to join the disciplinary proceedings as an interested party, pushing for an accelerated timeline so a ruling lands before the 2026/27 season takes full shape.
Hapoel Afula, for now, is simply the opponent caught in the middle of a fight that has nothing to do with them. Whether the National League's opening round goes ahead as planned rests on the tribunal's decision, expected imminently after Monday's hearing.
