Friday league matches to continue next season, officials say

Israeli top-flight football will keep staging league matches on Fridays next season after the pilot program was judged successful, according to the league administration. During the fixture draw, league chairman Erez Kalfon said the plan is to hold Friday games in the winter clock period, with kickoff at 3:00 p.m.

Kalfon also addressed the heavier match load in the playoffs, which became necessary because of the war. He said the league will set up a committee to examine whether playoff games can again be scheduled at a high frequency, as they were last season, in order to make the competition more exciting. "We are aware of the workload, but it was something that added a lot of interest, and we will try to do it again in the coming season," he said.

The league administration also said Hapoel Ramat Gan plans to host its home matches at the new stadium in Rehovot, לפחות until the Ramat Gan Stadium is ready. Hapoel Jerusalem will also play at the new stadium until Teddy Stadium returns to operation, after being shut down because of Maccabiah Games events.

Beitar Jerusalem has not yet announced where it will play its home matches.