Iraqi Premier League

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Iraqi Premier League
File:Iraqi League logo.png
Organising bodyIraq Football Association
Founded18 August 1974; 49 years ago (1974-08-18)
Country Iraq
ConfederationAFC
Number of teams20
Level on pyramid1
Relegation toIraq Division One
Domestic cup(s)Iraq FA Cup
Iraqi Super Cup
International cup(s)AFC Champions League
AFC Cup
Arab Club Champions Cup
Current championsAl-Shorta (5th title)
(2021–22)
Most championshipsAl-Zawraa
(14 titles)
Top goalscorerSahib Abbas (177)
TV partnersAl-Rabiaa Sports
Websiteiraqileague.com
Current: 2022–23 Iraqi Premier League

The Iraqi Premier League (Arabic: الدوري العراقي الممتاز), is the top level of the Iraqi football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it is operated by the Iraq Football Association (IFA) and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Iraq Division One.

The league was formed by the IFA in 1974 as the Iraqi National Clubs First Division, the first nationwide league of clubs in Iraq. The current format sees 20 teams playing 38 matches each (playing each team in the league twice, home and away), totalling 380 matches in the season.

Of the 80 teams to have competed since the inception of the league in 1974, eleven have won the title. Al-Zawraa are the most successful club with 14 titles, followed by Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Al-Talaba and Al-Shorta, who together contest the Baghdad derbies. The current champions are Al-Shorta, who won the title in 2021–22.

History

Origins

Main article: Iraqi National First Division

Up until 1973, leagues in Iraq were played at a regional level. The Central FA League, the Basra League and the Kirkuk League were all founded in 1948,[1] while the Mosul League was founded in 1950.[2] The first nationwide league to be held in the country was in the 1973–74 season when the National First Division was formed, with Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya being crowned champions.[3] The IFA then decided to replace the competition with a new National Clubs First Division which would only be open to clubs and not institute-representative teams.[4]

Foundation

The league held its first season in 1974–75 and was originally composed of ten clubs. The first ever Iraqi Premier League goal was scored by Falah Hassan of Al-Tayaran (now known as Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya) in a 1–1 draw with Al-Sinaa.[5] Al-Tayaran were crowned champions of the inaugural season which featured the following teams:[6]

"Baghdad's Big Four" dominance

Main article: Baghdad derbies
Results of the 'Big Four' from 1990 to 2002
Season QWJ SHR TLB ZWR
1989–90 1 3 6 4
1990–91 6 3 2 1
1991–92 1 5 4 2
1992–93 3 4 1 2
1993–94 2 5 3 1
1994–95 2 6 4 1
1995–96 8 3 6 1
1996–97 1 5 3 2
1997–98 2 1 5 3
1998–99 3 5 2 1
1999–2000 2 3 4 1
2000–01 2 3 4 1
2001–02 2 3 1 4
Top four 11 8 10 13
out of 13
  League champions

Ever since the Iraqi Premier League began, it has been dominated by the four biggest clubs in Baghdad: Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Al-Shorta, Al-Talaba and Al-Zawraa, who together contest the Baghdad derbies. From the 1989–90 season until the 2005–06 season, the league was won by one of the four Baghdad teams every time. After the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, players started to leave the Baghdad-based clubs and join clubs in the North such as Erbil and Duhok due to the poor security situation in the capital city. This led to a shift in the dominance of the "Big Four" as Erbil won three consecutive league titles from 2007 to 2009 with Duhok winning the league in 2010. In the 2008–09 season, none of Baghdad's Big Four clubs finished in the top four and this is the only time that this has happened in the history of the league; the top four spots were occupied by Erbil, Al-Najaf, Duhok and Al-Amana.[7] However, Baghdad's Big Four have since returned to dominating the league, having won all titles since 2015–16.

Corporate structure

The Premier League is operated by the Iraq Football Association, which is directly involved in the day-to-day operations of the Premier League and has full control over new rules adopted by the league.

Competition format

Competition

There are currently 20 clubs in the Iraqi Premier League. During the course of a season, each club plays the others twice (a double round-robin system), once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 38 games (however, matches between Baghdad's Big Four clubs are played at the neutral venue of Al-Shaab Stadium to accommodate more spectators). Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then head-to-head points, then head-to-head goal difference, then total goal difference, then number of wins and then goals scored. If still equal, teams are deemed to occupy the same position. If there is a tie for the championship, for relegation, or for qualification to other competitions, a play-off match at a neutral venue decides rank.[8]

The two teams at the bottom of the table are relegated to the Iraq Division One, while the top two teams in the Division One are promoted. The 18th-placed team in the table and the third-placed team in the Division One play a play-off match, with the winner playing the next season in the Premier League and the loser in the Division One. Each club must register a squad of 35 players, including at least two players under the age of 23, and can use up to five players from their youth team. Each club is allowed a maximum of six foreign outfield players, of which up to five can play at any given time. A maximum of five substitutions are available per match for each team. The winners of the league qualify for the Iraqi Super Cup, a match played against the winners of the Iraq FA Cup (if the league winners also win the Iraq FA Cup, they play the league runners-up instead).[9]

Number of teams

Clubs

2022–23 season

Twenty clubs compete in the 2022–23 Iraqi Premier League, including three promoted from the Division One:

2022–23
Club 		2021–22
Position 		First season in
Premier League 		Seasons
in Premier
League 		First season of
current spell in
Premier League 		Premier
League
titles 		Most
recent Premier
League title
Al-Diwaniya 17th 1988–89 15 2017–18 0 –
Al-Hudood 1st (Div. 1) 2008–09 11 2022–23 0 –
Al-Kahrabaa 9th 2004–05 18 2014–15 0 –
Al-Karkh 14th 1990–91 27 2018–19 0 –
Al-Naftb 4th 1985–86 38 1985–86 0 –
Al-Najafb 7th 1987–88 36 1987–88 0 –
Al-Qasimb 15th 2019–20 4 2019–20 0 –
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiyaa, b 2nd 1974–75 49 1974–75 7 2020–21
Al-Shortaa, b 1st 1974–75 49 1974–75 5 2021–22
Al-Sinaaa 16th 1974–75 39 2021–22 0 –
Al-Talabab 3rd 1978–79 45 1978–79 5 2001–02
Al-Zawraab 6th 1975–76 48 1975–76 14 2017–18
Duhok 3rd (Div. 1) 1988–89 20 2022–23 1 2009–10
Erbil 11th 1987–88 31 2018–19 4 2011–12
Karbalaa 2nd (Div. 1) 1992–93 21 2022–23 0 –
Naft Al-Basra 13th 2004–05 18 2012–13 0 –
Naft Al-Wasatb 5th 2014–15 9 2014–15 1 2014–15
Naft Maysan 12th 2009–10 12 2013–14 0 –
Newrozb 8th 2021–22 2 2021–22 0 –
Zakho 10th 2002–03 18 2019–20 0 –

a: Founding member of the Iraqi Premier League
b: Never been relegated from the Iraqi Premier League


class=notpageimage|
Location of clubs in Iraq for the 2022–23 Premier League season

Seasons in Premier League

80 teams have taken part in at least a single round of the Iraqi Premier League since its first season in 1974–75 up until the 2022–23 season (not counting the qualifying rounds of the 2000–01 season). The teams in bold are competing in the Iraqi Premier League in the 2022–23 season. Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya and Al-Shorta are the only teams to have played in every single one of the 49 Iraqi Premier League seasons.

Notes
  1. ^ Played the second half of the 1990–91 season to accommodate for the withdrawal of Erbil and played the first half of the 1993–94 season before being replaced by Babil.

Champions

Main article: List of Iraqi football champions
Club Titles Winning seasons
Al-Zawraa 14 1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1990–91, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2005–06, 2010–11, 2015–16, 2017–18
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 7 1974–75, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1996–97, 2004–05, 2016–17, 2020–21
Al-Talaba 5 1980–81, 1981–82, 1985–86, 1992–93, 2001–02
Al-Shorta 5 1979–80, 1997–98, 2012–13, 2018–19, 2021–22
Erbil 4 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2011–12
Al-Rasheed 3 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89
Al-Minaa 1 1977–78
Salahaddin 1 1982–83
Al-Jaish 1 1983–84
Duhok 1 2009–10
Naft Al-Wasat 1 2014–15

International competitions

Qualification for Asian competitions

See also: AFC Club Competitions Ranking

Qualification criteria for 2022

See also: 2022 AFC Champions League§Association team allocation

From the 2021–22 season, the champions of the Premier League qualify for the subsequent season's AFC Champions League group stage, while the league runners-up qualify for the AFC Cup group stage alongside the winner of the Iraq FA Cup. If the cup winners are also the league winners or runners-up, the third-placed team in the league qualifies for the AFC Cup group stage. The winners of the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup may earn an additional qualification for the subsequent season's AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs if they have not already qualified.

The number of places allocated to Iraqi clubs in AFC competitions is dependent upon the position the country holds in the AFC Club Competitions Ranking, which is calculated based upon the performance of teams in AFC competitions in the previous four years.

Ranking Member Association Club Points 100% ACL 2023
(GS+PO) 		AFC Cup 2023
(GS+PO)
2021 2020 Mvmt Region 2018 2019 2020 2021 Total
1 3 1 +2 1 (W) Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 10.000 26.350 0.000 18.450 54.800 100.000 3+1 0
2 6 1 +4 1 (E) South Korea South Korea 18.350 13.600 0.000 21.875 53.825 98.221 3+1 0
3 2 1 –1 2 (E) Japan Japan 13.850 21.800 0.000 17.875 53.525 97.673 3+1 0
4 5 1 +1 2 (W) Iran Iran 18.850 11.500 0.000 14.225 44.575 81.341 3+1 0
5 4 -1 –1 3 (W) Qatar Qatar 19.850 15.900 0.000 7.300 43.050 78.558 2+2 0
6 10 1 +4 4 (W) Uzbekistan Uzbekistan 9.400 9.000 0.000 16.743 35.143 64.130 2+2 0
7 1 -1 –6 3 (E) China China 16.200 17.350 0.000 0.800 34.350 62.682 2+2 0
8 8 0 — 5 (W) United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates 8.100 7.633 0.000 14.400 30.133 54.987 1+2 0
9 7 -1 –2 4 (E) Thailand Thailand 16.200 5.050 0.000 8.500 29.750 54.288 2+2 0
10 12 1 +2 6 (W) Jordan Jordan 7.633 7.967 0.000 10.833 26.433 48.235 1+1 1+0
11 25 1 +14 5 (E) Hong Kong Hong Kong 3.300 3.650 0.000 16.500 23.450 42.792 1+2 0
12 13 1 +1 7 (W) Tajikistan Tajikistan 4.433 3.000 0.000 13.952 21.386 39.026 1+0 1+1
13 9 -1 –4 8 (W) Iraq Iraq 8.633 8.300 0.000 3.250 20.183 36.830 1+0 2+0

Previous performance

Collectively, Iraqi teams have reached nine finals of Asian club competitions. Before the foundation of the Premier League, Aliyat Al-Shorta were the first Iraqi team to participate in the Asian Club Championship in 1971 and they reached the final, but they refused to play Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv and took the runner-up spot. Al-Rasheed became the first Premier League club to reach the final of the Asian Club Championship in 1989 but they lost a two-legged final on away goals to Al-Saad of Qatar. Al-Talaba reached the final of the 1995 Asian Cup Winners' Cup but they lost it 2–1 to Bellmare Hiratsuka, and five years later, Al-Zawraa lost the final of the same competition 1–0 to Shimizu S-Pulse in 2000. Erbil reached the final of Asia's second-tier tournament, the AFC Cup, twice in 2012 and 2014 but lost both times to Al-Kuwait and Al-Qadsia respectively. Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya managed to win the AFC Cup when they beat Indian club Bengaluru FC 1–0 in the 2016 final, and they won the competition for the second consecutive season in 2017 by beating FC Istiklol by the same scoreline. They earned a record third AFC Cup title in a row with a 2–0 defeat of Altyn Asyr in 2018.

Performance in Arab competitions

The Premier League champions also qualify for the Arab Club Champions Cup alongside the league runners-up, while the league's third-placed team is admitted into the Arab Club Champions Cup qualifying play-offs.

Al-Shorta won the inaugural Arab Club Champions Cup in 1982 by defeating Al-Nejmeh 4–2 on aggregate in the final. Meanwhile, Al-Rasheed won the Arab Club Champions Cup three times in a row in 1985, 1986 and 1987 and are the competition's joint-most successful side.

Sponsorship

The league was founded as the National Clubs First Division and has been renamed several times, with the current Premier League name remaining in place since 2013. The competition has had title sponsorship rights sold to three companies, which were Zain Iraq in the 2009–10 season, Asiacell in the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons and Fuchs in the 2015–16 season.

Period Sponsor Brand
1974–1988 No sponsor National Clubs First Division
1988–1989 Pan-National Clubs First Division
1989–1995 National Clubs First Division
1995–1996 Advanced Clubs League
1996–1999 Premier League
1999–2000 First Division
2000–2002 Elite League
2002–2003 First Division
2003–2009 Premier League
2009–2010 Zain Iraq Zain Iraq League
2010–2012 Asiacell Asiacell Elite League
2012–2013 No sponsor Elite League
2013–2015 Premier League
2015–2016 Fuchs Fuchs Premier League
2016–present No sponsor Premier League

Players

Top scorers

See also: List of Iraqi Premier League top scorers
As of 20 October 2022.[4]
Rank Player Goals First app Last app Club(s) (goals)
1 Iraq Sahib Abbas 177 1988 2012 Salahaddin (42), Al-Zawraa (62), Al-Talaba (18), Karbalaa (50), Al-Sinaa (5)
2 Iraq Karim Saddam 171 1979 1996 Al-Sinaa (23), Al-Jaish (11), Al-Rasheed (4), Al-Zawraa (127), Al-Shorta (6)
3 Iraq Ali Hashim 170 1987 2004 Al-Najaf (149), Al-Karkh (21)
4 Iraq Amjad Radhi 168 2007 2022 Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (98), Erbil (62), Al-Najaf (8)
5 Iraq Hussein Abdullah 167 1991 2010 Al-Sinaa (32), Al-Naft (16), Diyala (40), Duhok (58), Erbil (14), Kirkuk (2), Peris (5)
6 Iraq Hammadi Ahmed 161 2005 2022 Samarra (19), Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (142)
7 Iraq Younis Abid Ali 157 1983 2000 Al-Shorta (135), Al-Rasheed (15), Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (3), Al-Difaa Al-Jawi (4)
8 Iraq Ahmed Radhi 146 1981 1999 Al-Zawraa (103), Al-Rasheed (43)
9 Iraq Alaa Kadhim 145 1988 2007 Al-Sinaa (8), Al-Talaba (137)
10 Iraq Alaa Abdul-Zahra 143 2004 2022 Al-Zawraa (54), Duhok (26), Al-Shorta (63)

Italics denotes players still playing professional football,
Bold denotes players still playing in the Iraqi Premier League.

Awards

Trophy

File:Iraqi Premier League shield.jpg
The Iraqi Premier League shield for the 2012–13 season.

The current Iraqi Premier League trophy has been in use since the 2009–10 season and was designed by Iraq Football Association member Zuhair Nadhum, with the design being implemented by Qahtan Salim. The materials used to make the trophy were imported from China.

The trophy is a flat shield, predominantly golden in colour. In the centre of the shield is a football made from golden and mirrored pieces, with a map of Iraq in the centre of the ball. Inside the map reads the word Iraq in Arabic, with the words Premier League Shield underneath (also in Arabic) completed with the season. Surrounding the football are the words Iraq Football Association written in Arabic at the top and in English at the bottom in silver text. Surrounding that text is another ring, the top half of which contains the flag of Iraq and the bottom half of which contains 18 golden stars, representing the 18 provinces of Iraq. Connecting the two halves of the outer ring on both sides is the IFA's logo.[10]

Records

League records

Titles
Wins
Losses
Goals

Match records

See also: List of Iraqi Premier League highest scoring games
Scorelines
Attendances

Player records

See also: List of Iraqi Premier League hat-tricks
Appearances
Titles
Goals

Managerial records

See also: List of Iraqi Premier League winning managers
Titles

The following managers have won multiple Iraqi Premier League titles:

Manager Club(s) Wins Winning seasons
Iraq Ayoub Odisho Al-Talaba, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (2), Al-Zawraa 4 1992–93, 1996–97, 2017–18, 2020–21
Iraq Jamal Salih Al-Talaba, Al-Rasheed (2) 3 1981–82, 1987–88, 1988–89
Iraq Thair Ahmed Al-Talaba, Erbil (2) 2001–02, 2007–08, 2008–09
Iraq Basim Qasim Duhok, Al-Zawraa, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 2009–10, 2015–16, 2016–17
Iraq Saadi Salih Al-Zawraa 2 1975–76, 1976–77
Iraq Ammo Baba Al-Talaba, Al-Zawraa 1980–81, 1993–94
Iraq Amer Jameel Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Al-Zawraa 1989–90, 1998–99
Iraq Adnan Hamad Al-Zawraa 1995–96, 1999–2000
Iraq Sabah Abdul-Jalil Al-Zawraa, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 2000–01, 2004–05

See also

References

  1. ^ "Football leagues set up in Iraq's main centres". The Iraq Times. 16 October 1948.
  2. ^ "Mosul forms new football group". The Iraq Times. 11 December 1950.
  3. ^ Al-Sabti, Ali (2018). Iraqi League History 1956-1974. Iraq.
  4. ^ a b Al-Sabti, Ali (2014). Iraqi League History 1974-2011. Iraq.
  5. ^ "The story of Al-Tayaran winning the first Iraqi League championship". Kooora. 9 May 2009.
  6. ^ Al-Munshi, Dr.Dhia (2005). Iraqi Football Encyclopedia: Chico.. Jamoli… and football in Iraq. Citadel Printing & Design, Al-Saadoun, Baghdad.
  7. ^ http://www.goalzz.com/main.aspx?c=4070 Goalzz.com
  8. ^ "نظام المسابقات في الدوري العراقي موسم ۲۰۲٠ - ۲۰۲١" (PDF). Iraq Football Association. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  9. ^ "تعليمات اتحاد الكرة للأندية المشاركة في الدوري الممتاز والدرجة الاولى". Al-Rabiaa Sports. 23 August 2022.
  10. ^ "The Iraq Football Association reveals the league shield for the 2012–13 season with materials imported from China". Goal.com (in Arabic). September 3, 2013.

External links

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