The Iraqi football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

clubs in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. The system has a hierarchical format with promotion and relegation across leagues at different levels, allowing even the smallest club the theoretical possibility of ultimately rising to the very top of the system. There are 5 individual levels; the top flight is governed by the Iraqi Pro League Association, while the other divisions are run by the

Iraq Football Association The Iraq Football Association (IFA) () is the governing body of football in Iraq, controlling the Iraq national football team, Iraqi national team and the Iraqi football league system. The Iraqi Football Association was founded in 1948 and has be ...

(IFA).

History

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, while the Mosul League was founded in 1950. The first nationwide league to be held in the country was in the 1973–74 season when the National First Division League was formed, with

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya () is an Iraqi sports club based in Al-Rusafa, Iraq, Rusafa District, Baghdad that competes in the Iraq Stars League, the top-flight of Football in Iraq, Iraqi football. Founded in 1931, it is the oldest existing club in Iraq. ...

being crowned champions. The IFA then decided to replace the competition with a new National Clubs First Division League (later known as Iraqi Premier League) which would only be open to clubs and not institute-representative teams. In the 2023–24 season, the Iraqi Premier League was transformed into a professional league under the name Iraq Stars League.

About the system

The system consists of a pyramid of leagues, bound together by the principle of

promotion and relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

. A certain number of the most successful clubs in each league can rise to a higher league, whilst those that finish the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

at the bottom of their league can find themselves sinking down a level. In addition to sporting performance, promotion is usually contingent on meeting criteria set by the higher league, especially concerning appropriate facilities and finances. In theory, it is possible for a lowly local amateur club to achieve annual promotions and within a few years rise to the pinnacle of the Iraqi game and become champions of the Stars League (previously known as the ''Premier League''). While this may be unlikely in practice (at the very least, in the short run), there certainly is significant movement within the pyramid.

Structure

At the top is the single division of the Stars League (level 1, which is often referred to as the "top-flight") which contains 20 clubs, then the Premier Division League (level 2) which consists of 20 clubs, the First Division League (level 3) which consists of 20 clubs, the Second Division League (level 4) which consists of 20 clubs, and the Third Division League (level 5) which is separated into regional groups.

Promotion and relegation rules for All the levels

# Stars League (level 1, 20 teams): 2 teams are relegated directly, and 1 team enters a relegation play-off. # Premier Division League (level 2, 20 teams): 2 teams are promoted directly, and 1 team enters a promotion play-off. 2 teams are relegated. # First Division League (level 3, 20 teams): 2 teams are promoted. 2 teams are relegated. # Second Division League (level 4, 20 teams): 2 teams are promoted. 2 teams are relegated. # Third Division League (level 5): 2 teams are promoted.

The system

Level one in the pyramid, the top division of Iraqi football, is the Stars League, the winners of which are regarded as the champions of Iraq and the contenders have access to the Asian premier football competition, the

AFC Champions League Elite The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

References