2022–23 Lebanese Premier League

The 2022–23 Lebanese Premier League was the 61st season of the Lebanese Premier League, the top Lebanese league for football clubs since its establishment in 1934. The league started on 2 September 2022,[1] and ended on 12 March 2023.

Lebanese Premier League
Season2022–23
Dates2 September 2022 – 12 March 2023
ChampionsAhed
9th title
RelegatedAkhaa Ahli Aley
Salam Zgharta
AFC CupAhed
Nejmeh
Matches played126
Goals scored307 (2.44 per match)
Top goalscorerElhadji Malick Tall (22 goals)
Biggest winTripoli 0–6 Ansar
(18 September 2022)
Highest scoringTadamon Sour 5–2 Akhaa Ahli Aley
(2 October 2022)
Longest winning run6 matches
Bourj
Longest unbeaten run19 matches
Ansar
Longest winless run12 matches
Safa
Salam Zgharta
Longest losing run10 matches
Chabab Ghazieh

It was the third season to feature a "split" format, following its introduction in the 2020–21 season, in which the season was divided into two phases. Ahed won their second consecutive title, and ninth overall. Akhaa Ahli Aley and Salam Zgharta were relegated to the Lebanese Second Division.

Summary

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Regulations

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Each club had to involve two players under the age of 21 for at least 2,000 combined minutes, and three players for 3,000 combined minutes.[2] Also, each club was allowed a maximum of eight players over the age of 30, with only five being able to be fielded in a game.[3] In case a club was not able to meet the required number of minutes at the end of the season, they would have had three points deducted from their total in the league.[3]

For the first time since the cancelled 2019–20 season, each club could have three foreign players under contract.[2]

Format

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Following its introduction in the 2020–21 season, the 2022–23 season consisted of two phases: in the first phase, each team played against one another once.[4] In the second phase, the 12 teams were divided into two groups based on their position in the first phase. Contrary to the previous season, the teams only carried over half of their point tally from the first phase.[2] After the first phase was completed, clubs could not move out of their own half in the league, even if they achieved more or fewer points than a higher or lower ranked team, respectively.[5]

The top six teams played against each other twice;[4] the champion automatically qualifies to the 2023–24 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs—assuming they meet the criteria set by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).[6] The runners-up instead directly qualified to the 2023–24 AFC Cup group stage—as long as the champions meet the AFC criteria for the AFC Champions League.[4] The bottom six teams also played against each other twice, with the bottom two teams being relegated to the Lebanese Second Division.[4]

Teams

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Twelve teams competed in the league – the top ten teams from the 2021–22 Lebanese Premier League season and the two teams promoted from the Lebanese Second Division.

Stadiums and locations

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3km
2miles
 
Shabab Sahel
 
Sagesse
 
Safa
 
Nejmeh
 
Bourj
 
Ansar
 
Ahed
 
Beirut Lebanese Premier League clubs
Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
Team Location Stadium Capacity
Ahed Beirut (Ouzai) Al Ahed Stadium[note 1] 2,000
Akhaa Ahli Aley Aley Amin AbdelNour Stadium 3,500
Ansar Beirut (Tariq El Jdideh) Ansar Stadium[note 1]
Bourj Beirut (Bourj el-Barajneh) Bourj el-Barajneh Stadium[note 1] 1,500
Chabab Ghazieh Ghazieh Kfarjoz Municipal Stadium 2,000
Nejmeh Beirut (Ras Beirut) Rafic Hariri Stadium[note 1] 5,000
Safa Beirut (Wata El Msaytbeh) Safa Stadium 4,000
Sagesse Beirut (Achrafieh) Sin El Fil Stadium[note 1]
Salam Zgharta Zgharta Zgharta Sports Complex 5,000
Shabab Sahel Beirut (Haret Hreik) Shabab Al Sahel Stadium[note 1]
Tadamon Sour Tyre Sour Municipal Stadium 6,500
Tripoli Tripoli Tripoli Municipal Stadium 10,000

Foreign players

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Lebanese clubs were allowed to have three foreign players at their disposal at any time, as well as two extra Palestinian players born in Lebanon in a given match sheet (both of whom could not be fielded at the same time in a match).[7] Moreover, each club competing in an AFC competition was allowed to field one extra foreign player, to be only played in continental matches, as the AFC allowed four foreign players to play in the starting eleven (one of whom from an AFC country).[8]

  • Players in bold were registered during the mid-season transfer window.
  • Players in italics left the club during the mid-season transfer window.
Team Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Palestinian player(s) Former players
Ahed   Emmanuel Obere   Issah Yakubu   Lee Erwin   Samad Kadiri
Akhaa Ahli Aley   Carlos Lomba   Álex Chico   Laércio   Wasim Abdalhadi   Fábio Vassalo
  Patrik Bordon
Ansar   Ichaka Diarra   Houssem Louati   Elhadji Malick Tall   Mohamad Hebous
Bourj   Richard Baffour   Dennis Tetteh   Zaher Samahe   Stephen Sarfo
Chabab Ghazieh   Ezra Amelinsa   Chizoba Ibe   Titteh Gideou   Yasser Serhan   Mani Ira Musa
Nejmeh   Jefinho   Vítor Barata   Matheus Farinha   Abdoulaye Fall
  Jean Baleke
Safa   Issa Keita   Adramé Diallo   Fredlin Mompremier   Ayman Abou Sahyoun   Alaa Hamadeh
Sagesse   Papa Sidibe   Mansa Konate   Boucounta Sarr   Mohammed Qasem   Sayed Payet
Salam Zgharta   James Innocent   Gerônimo   Vinícius Calamari   Ibrahim Abdelwahhab   Usule Martins
Shabab Sahel   Andrew Ikefe   Emmanuel Nettey   Bobby Clement   Hadi Dawkar
Tadamon Sour   Adnan Salloum
  Ghassan Sarriyeh
  Biafri Nessemon Toussaint
  Christian Obiozor
  Daouda Diop
Tripoli   Suleiman Abu Zam'a   Ibrahim Al Rowwad   Mougbaya Beni de Dieu   Omar Kayed
  Ahmad Yassine
  Yehya Ghafour
  Hael Al Badri
  Ahmad Sayed Attieh El Ajjaj

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[a]
1 Ahed (C) 21 14 6 1 39 11 +28 36 Qualification for AFC Cup group stage[b]
2 Nejmeh 21 13 6 2 34 14 +20 34
3 Ansar 21 13 6 2 45 16 +29 32
4 Shabab Sahel 21 10 5 6 28 23 +5 23
5 Bourj 21 9 5 7 25 26 −1 21
6 Chabab Ghazieh 21 3 3 15 16 39 −23 6
7 Tadamon Sour 21 8 6 7 30 24 +6 25
8 Tripoli 21 5 8 8 19 35 −16 21
9 Sagesse 21 6 3 12 18 26 −8 18
10 Safa 21 4 8 9 18 30 −12 15[c]
11 Salam Zgharta (R) 21 4 6 11 15 26 −11 15[c] Relegation to Lebanese Second Division
12 Akhaa Ahli Aley (R) 21 4 4 13 20 37 −17 13
Source: Global Sports Archive
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored; 6) Disciplinary points.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Teams played each other once (11 matches), before the league was split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) where each team played the other teams in their group twice (10 matches). Teams carried over half their point tally from the first phase into the second phase.
  2. ^ Nejmeh qualified for the AFC Cup group stage as 2022–23 Lebanese FA Cup winners.
  3. ^ a b Head-to-head results: Salam Zgharta 0–0 Safa; Salam Zgharta 0–1 Safa; Safa 1–1 Salam Zgharta

Season statistics

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Top goalscorers

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Rank Player Club Goals[9]
1   Elhadji Malick Tall Ansar 22
2   Hassan Maatouk Ansar 10
  Mohamad Haidar Ahed
4   Adramé Diallo Safa 9
5   Khalil Bader Nejmeh 8
  Boucounta Sarr Sagesse
7   Zein Farran Shabab Sahel 7

Hat-tricks

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Player For Against Result Date
  Mohamad Omar Sadek Bourj Tripoli 4–1 9 September 2022
  Elhadji Malick Tall Ansar Tripoli 6–0 18 September 2022
  Elhadji Malick Tall Ansar Chabab Ghazieh 4–0 7 January 2023
  Khalil Bader Nejmeh Shabab Sahel 4–1 11 February 2023
  Mohammad Al Massri Akhaa Ahli Aley Tripoli 4–0 12 February 2023

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Only used as a training ground

References

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  1. ^ "سحب قرعة كأسي النخبة والتحدي ودوري الدرجتين الأولى والثانية وكأس لبنان". The LFA (in Arabic). Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "بالصور: الاتحاد اللبناني يعلن تعديلات بالجملة". كووورة. 3 June 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  3. ^ a b "الاتحاد اللبناني يعلن عن قرارات حاسمة". كووورة. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d Abou Diab, Rami (25 June 2020). "The new regulations for the Lebanese Premier League". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  5. ^ "هل يُمكن أن يُحسم اللقب قبل الدورة السداسية؟". lebanonfg.com. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  6. ^ Abdallah, Rakan (1 August 2020). "What are the criteria for a Lebanese club to play in the Champions League?". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  7. ^ "2018/2019 Lebanese Premier League Squads confirmed". FA Lebanon. 21 September 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  8. ^ Gineprini, Nicholas (20 March 2019). "Is a limit on foreign players, a limit for the development of Asian Football?". Calcio8Cina. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  9. ^ "Lebanese First Division 2022/2023". Global Sports Archive. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
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