The Iraqi Premier Division League (Arabic: دوري الدرجة الممتازة العراقي)[1] is the second-highest division of the Iraqi football league system after the Iraq Stars League. The league is contested by 20 clubs and is operated by the Iraq Football Association (IFA). Each season, the two top-finishing teams in the Premier Division League are automatically promoted to the Stars League, while the third-placed team enters a promotion play-off. The two lowest-finishing teams are relegated to the First Division League.
Founded | 1974 |
---|---|
Country | Iraq |
Number of clubs | 20 |
Level on pyramid | 2 |
Promotion to | Iraq Stars League |
Relegation to | Iraqi First Division League |
Domestic cup(s) | Iraq FA Cup |
International cup(s) | AFC Champions League Two (via Iraq FA Cup) |
Current champions | Diyala (2nd title) (2023–24) |
Most championships | Al-Minaa (3 titles) |
TV partners | Al-Iraqiya Sports |
Current: 2024–25 Iraqi Premier Division League |
From the 2023–24 season, the competition's name was changed from First Division League to Premier Division League. In the 2023–24 season, Diyala won the title and was promoted alongside runners-up Al-Karma.[2][3] Al-Minaa are the record holders in the tournament having won three titles.[4]
League structure
editIn November 2020, The Iraq FA announced that the number of teams will decrease from 28 to 24 in total starting from 2021 to 2022 season. To make these changes possible, the Iraq FA announced that in 2020–21 season, The top teams in each group are directly promoted to the top-tier, while 8 teams in total are directly relegated to third-tier.[5]
On April 8, 2023, the promotion and relegation mechanism was changed, and the Football Association announced the promotion of the winning team in each group directly to the top-tier, and the relegation of the last two teams in the standings in each group to the third-tier, as a result, two teams are promote and 4 teams are relegate.[6][7]
Competition name
editPeriod | Name |
---|---|
1974–1995 | National Clubs Second Division |
1995–1999 | First Division League |
1999–2000 | Second Division League |
2000–2002 | First Division League |
2002–2003 | Second Division League |
2003–2023 | First Division League |
2023–present | Premier Division League |
In the media
editIraqi Premier Division League is called in the media by the name of Dawri Al-Madhaleem (Oppressed League), because the media, the Football Association, and the Referees Committee do not care about it, and the teams that play in it suffer from poor financing, and their stadiums are in a bad shape. However, the league includes very talented players, and the competition in it is so strong that it exceeds the competition in the Stars League.[8][9][10][11]
List of champions
editMultiple winners
editClub | Titles | Winning seasons |
---|---|---|
Al-Minaa | 3 | 1986–87, 1989–90, 2022–23 |
Al-Ittihad | 2 | 1975–76, 1980–81 |
Al-Bahri | 2 | 1978–79, 1985–86 |
Kirkuk | 2 | 1982–83, 2000–01 |
Al-Mosul | 2 | 1981–82, 2001–02 |
Al-Karkh | 2 | 2012–13, 2017–18 |
Diyala | 2 | 1996–97, 2023–24 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "في دوري الدرجة الممتازة تعادل فريق ديالى مع غاز لشمال من دون أهداف" (in Arabic). Al-Rabiaa Sports. 23 December 2023.
- ^ "الميناء بطلا لدوري الدرجة الأولى بعد فوزه على الامانة". shafaq.com (in Arabic). 2 June 2023.
- ^ "بالصور.. الميناء يتوج بلقب دوري الدرجة الأولى على حساب بغداد". kooora.com (in Arabic). 2 June 2023.
- ^ "الميناء يحرز لقب دوري الدرجة الاولى للموسم 2022/ 2023". al-mirbad.com (in Arabic). 2 June 2023.
- ^ "اعتماد تصنيف وآلية وموعد انطلاق دوري الدرجة الأولى". ifa.iq (in Arabic). Retrieved 2021-08-10.
- ^ "تغيير في آلية التأهل والهبوط بالدرجة الاولى". almaalomah.me (in Arabic). 8 April 2023.
- ^ "بالوثيقة.. تغيير آلية الصعود والهبوط في الدوريين الممتاز والأول". baghdadtoday.news (in Arabic). 8 April 2023.
- ^ "دوري الدرجة الاولى دوري مظاليم بإمتياز". ipoa.me (in Arabic). 19 May 2021.
- ^ "دوري المظاليم.. قوة وتحدٍّ وإصرار". magazine.imn.iq (in Arabic). 30 May 2023.
- ^ "المظاليم أولى بالاهتمام". alsabaah.iq (in Arabic). 31 May 2023.
- ^ "تنظيم جيد لدوري المظاليم لكنه بحاجة إلى المزيد من الأضواء". azzaman-iraq.com (in Arabic). 7 June 2023.