The 2012–13 Iraqi Elite League was the 39th season of the competition since its establishment in 1974. The season began on 19 October 2012 and finished on 4 September 2013.

Al-Shorta Al-Shorta Sports Club ( ar, نادي الشرطة الرياضي, lit=''Police Sports Club'') is an Iraqi sports club based in Al-Rusafa, Baghdad. It has teams in 17 different sports, more than any other Iraqi club, and the best known sectio ...

were crowned champions for the third time, finishing on 72 points, two points ahead of nearest competitors

Erbil Erbil, also called Hawler (, ar, أربيل, Arbīl; syr, ܐܲܪܒܹܝܠ, Arbel), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It lies in the Erbil Governorate. It has an estimated population of around 1,600,000. H ...

. Having only managed a seventh place finish in the previous season, Al-Shorta's results improved significantly under the presidency of Ayad Bunyan and they were able to outperform favourites

Duhok Duhok ( ku, دهۆک, translit=Dihok; ar, دهوك, Dahūk; syr, ܒܝܬ ܢܘܗܕܪܐ, Beth Nohadra) is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It's the capital city of Duhok Governorate. History The city's origin dates back to the Ston ...

Al-Zawraa Al-Zawraa Sports Club ( ar, نادي الزوراء الرياضي) is an Iraqi sports club based in Utayfia, Karkh District (near Tigris River), Baghdad. Their football team compete in the Iraqi Premier League, the top-flight of Iraqi football ...

and

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya ( ar, نادي القوة الجوية الرياضي, lit=Air Force Club) is an Iraqi sports club based in Rusafa District, Baghdad that competes in the Iraqi Premier League, the top-flight of Iraqi football. Founded in 19 ...

. On the final day of the season, three teams were all still in the race for the title. Al-Shorta needed a win against Al-Talaba to secure the league, whilst Erbil had to defeat

Al-Najaf Najaf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف) or An-Najaf al-Ashraf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف ٱلْأَشْرَف), also known as Baniqia ( ar, بَانِيقِيَا), is a city in central Iraq about 160 km (100 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated popula ...

and hope that Al-Shorta failed to win their game if they wanted to retain their title. Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya needed both Al-Shorta and Erbil to slip up and needed to defeat Masafi Al-Wasat by a large goal margin in order for them to go home with the trophy. All three teams ended up winning their respective matches, making Al-Shorta the champions. It was the club's first league title since the 1997–98 season.

SWAT incident

On 23 June 2013, after a match with

, seven football players of Karbalaa and their manager were beaten by the anti-terror police. They used sticks and batons against the eight men. Five of them were in critical condition, and on June 30, Mohammed Abbas Al-Jabouri, the club's manager, died in hospital. Several teams refused to play their matches in round 25 as a result of the incident.

League table

Results

Season statistics

Top scorers

Hat-tricks

;Notes ⁴ Player scored 4 goals

Media coverage

References

External links

Iraq Football Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:2012-13 Iraqi Premier League Iraqi Premier League seasons 1

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...