Ironi Tiberias are looking for a stand-in head coach, and the name doing the rounds is a familiar one in Israeli football: Slobodan Drapić, according to a report from ONE.
The Galilee club find themselves in an unusual bind. Head coach Eliran Chuda was provisionally suspended earlier this month by Israel's National Anti-Doping Agency, one of several figures at the club caught up in a case centred on intravenous infusions allegedly given to players before a match against Ashdod.
The complaint that triggered the case came from Ashdod, who alleged Tiberias players received more than 100cc of saline infusions before facing them. Tiberias have disputed any wrongdoing, arguing the substance was legal and administered within World Anti-Doping Agency limits, while prosecutors are reportedly seeking sanctions ranging from lengthy suspensions to a lifetime expulsion for some of those implicated.
That has left the club needing a coach in a hurry, and the succession plan is awkward. Assistant Moti Krispiel does not hold the Pro licence required to take permanent charge of a Ligat Ha'al team, so youth-team coach Morris Ozen has stepped in as a stopgap. ONE reports the club regards that arrangement as unsustainable beyond the very short term.
The preferred solution, according to the report, is to bring in an experienced coach on a temporary contract to bridge the gap until Chuda's case is resolved and, potentially, he is able to return.
Drapić fits that profile. The Serbian-born Israeli has been out of work since Maccabi Bnei Reineh dismissed him last year, the latest stop in a well-travelled career that has taken in two spells at Beitar Jerusalem, plus stints at Maccabi Netanya, Ironi Kiryat Shmona, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Maccabi Sakhnin.
Tiberias' coaching vacancy is just one of several problems facing the club this summer as they prepare for the new season, with the Toto Cup group stage already under way. No appointment had been made as of ONE's report, and for now Drapić remains a name in the frame rather than a confirmed candidate.
