HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The 2020 LFF I Lyga is the 31st season of the
I Lyga The LFF Pirma Lyga, TOPsport Pirma Lyga, or Pirma Lyga, is the second tier of professional Lithuanian football championship. Format Organized by the Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF), I Lyga is contested by 16 teams, with the top team gain ...
, the second tier
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
league of
Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
. The season was planned to begin in March, but was delayed to June because of
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
pandemic. The season finished on time on 31 October.


Teams


Team changes

The last-placed
A Lyga The A Lyga is the top division of professional football in Lithuania. It is organized by Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) (). History The first football league was established in Lithuania in 1924, and in various forms existed until 1939. ...
team is normally relegated to I Lyga. Since FC Stumbras had gone out of business in July 2019, no team was relegated from A Lyga in 2019. The 7th placed team in A Lyga contests a play-off match with 2nd placed I Lyga team. In this play-off match
FK Banga Gargždai FK Banga Gargždai is a Lithuanian professional association football, football club from the city of Gargždai. History FK Banga was founded in 1966. During the period from 1966 to 1990, the club was in the Soviet Lithuanian football champion ...
beat A Lyga side FC Palanga to claim a spot in the A Lyga.


Licensing Process

Ultimately, the licensing process determines clubs eligibility to contest in the respective league in Lithuanian football. At the end of 2019 A Lyga season, a match fixing investigation was launched after irregular betting patterns were reported. In December 2019 the results of the investigation were published, resulting expulsion of FK Atlantas and FC Palanga from A Lyga, and their demotion to II Lyga. The clubs appealed, but their appeals were rejected. The clubs attempted to license to I Lyga, but the decision to demote the clubs to II Lyga stood ground. With reduction of numbers in A Lyga, several I Lyga clubs attempted to leapfrog into promotion to A Lyga. DFK Dainava, Vilniaus Vytis and FC Hegelmann Litauen have applied for A Lyga license. FC Hegelmann Litauen later withdrew their application, while DFK Dainava and Vilniaus Vytis had their applications rejected. FC Džiugas, last season's I Lyga winners application was also rejected failing to meet several criteria.
FK Banga Gargždai FK Banga Gargždai is a Lithuanian professional association football, football club from the city of Gargždai. History FK Banga was founded in 1966. During the period from 1966 to 1990, the club was in the Soviet Lithuanian football champion ...
was the only I Lyga club that successfully licensed to A Lyga. Three of the four other applicants, FC Džiugas, DFK Dainava and FC Hegelmann Litauen I Lyga licenses were automatically approved. Vilniaus Vytis failed to meet I Lyga licensing criteria, and license was not issued even after the appeal. However, the club was granted an exception with a condition that the club reaches certain milestones by 9 March. Vytis will start the season with 3 point penalty. In February 2020 further match fixing investigation results were published. As a result, FC Kupiškis was fined and expelled from I Lyga. Other I Lyga teams
FK Nevėžis FK Nevėžis is a professional association football, football club from the city of Kėdainiai, Lithuania. Achievements *Three times Lithuanian champion (1966, 1972, 1973). *Twice runner-up (1968, 1969). *Three times won Bronze medals (1967, ...
, FA Šiauliai, Baltijos Futbolo Akademija (which split up from partnership with FK Vilnius (2019)), FK Minija (2017), FK Jonava, Riteriai B renewed their licenses successfully, although
FK Nevėžis FK Nevėžis is a professional association football, football club from the city of Kėdainiai, Lithuania. Achievements *Three times Lithuanian champion (1966, 1972, 1973). *Twice runner-up (1968, 1969). *Three times won Bronze medals (1967, ...
needed to go through the appeal process. Successful licensing to I Lyga was awarded to FK Atmosfera (2012) and Žalgiris B as well, despite their results suggesting relegation to II Lyga. Three II Lyga teams licensed successfully to I Lyga - II Lyga Southern Group winners Kauno Žalgiris B, as well as 4th placed Panevėžys B and 13th placed Sūduva B. Other II Lyga teams that sought I Lyga licenses were FK Aukštaitija and the II Lyga Western Group winners FSK Radviliškis. The licensing criteria were not met and the promotion was not granted. FK Aukštaitija asked to grant an exception to participate without a license, but this request was rejected as well. III Lyga ''(
Klaipėda Klaipėda ( ; ) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the List of cities in Lithuania, third-largest city in Lithuania, the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, fifth-largest city in the Baltic States, and the capi ...
`s zone)'' side FC Sakuona Plikiai have also attempted to license, but later withdrew their application. Only FC Pakruojis have dropped out of the I Lyga, along with Stumbras B which had gone out of business.


Participants


Season progress

The
Lithuanian Football Federation The Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF; ) is the governing body of football in Lithuania. The Federation is responsible for football development in the country and for the national teams, including the Lithuania national football team. It is bas ...
announced that top four teams will qualify for promotion to A Lyga next season. The reserve teams are not eligible for promotion. Originally, the first round was scheduled for 21 March, and the final round to be played in October. Due to the COVID-19 virus pandemic the start of the championship was postponed. The first round took place on 5 June, and the last round took place on 31 October. On 10 April the decision was taken to make changes to the format of the championship this year. The competition will take place in a form of one-and-a-half round system. In the first round all teams would play with each other. In the second round the teams would split into two groups. In the top group, the teams positioned 1-8 would play with each other, competing for promotion. The teams in the bottom group, positioned in positions 9-14 would continue the relegation fight. By shortening the calendar and by giving up a longer summer break the season will end by November as planned. As originally planned, the first four teams will win the right to advance to the A league in the following season. In case of refusal or ineligibility of some teams (such as reserve teams), only the teams in the top 8 positions will be allowed to seek promotion to the A league. The two bottom teams are liable for relegation.


League table


Promotion round and Regulation round League table


Top Scorers

''Data at the end of the season 31 October 2020''


See also

* 2020 A Lyga * 2020 II Lyga * 2020 Lithuanian Football Cup *
Football in Lithuania Football is one of the top two most popular sports in Lithuania by the quantity of active sportsmen. However, with only 52,000 match spectators a year (2019) in all top league matches, it falls far behind country's most popular sport, basketball. ...


References


External links


Official I Lyga results
{{2020 in Lithuanian football I Lyga seasons 2020 in Lithuanian football Lith Lith