Iraqi Premier Division League
Football league
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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). The current format sees 20 teams playing 38 matches each (playing each team in the league twice, home and away), totalling 380 matches in the season.[2]
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| 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 | Iraq FA Cup |
| International cup(s) | AFC Champions League Two (via Iraq FA Cup) |
| Current champions | Al-Mosul (3rd title) (2024–25) |
| Most championships | Al-Minaa Al-Mosul (3 titles each) |
| Broadcaster(s) | Al-Iraqiya Sports |
| Current: 2025–26 Iraqi Premier Division League | |
Each season, the two top-finishing teams in the Premier Division League are automatically promoted to the Stars League. The third and fourth-placed teams compete in a play-off match, with the winner qualifying for the promotion play-off match against the 18th-placed team from the Stars League. The two lowest-finishing teams are relegated to the First Division League, while the 18th-placed team enters a relegation play-off with the third-placed team from the First Division League.[3][4]
From the 2023–24 season, the competition's name was changed from First Division League to Premier Division League. In the 2024–25 season, Al-Mosul won the title and was promoted alongside runners-up Al-Gharraf.[5][6] Al-Minaa and Al-Mosul are the record holders in the tournament having won three titles each.[7]
Competition name
| Period | Name |
|---|---|
| 1974–1995 | National Clubs Second Division League |
| 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
Iraqi 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
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Most successful clubs
| Club | Titles | Winning seasons |
|---|---|---|
| Al-Minaa | 3 | 1986–87, 1989–90, 2022–23 |
| Al-Mosul | 3 | 1981–82, 2001–02, 2024–25 |
| Al-Ittihad | 2 | 1975–76, 1980–81 |
| Al-Bahri | 2 | 1978–79, 1985–86 |
| Kirkuk | 2 | 1982–83, 2000–01 |
| Al-Karkh | 2 | 2012–13, 2017–18 |
| Diyala | 2 | 1996–97, 2023–24 |
| Al-Zawraa | 1 | 1974–75 |
| Al-Shabab | 1 | 1977–78 |
| Al-Adhamiya | 1 | 1979–80 |
| Al-Rasheed | 1 | 1983–84 |
| Samarra | 1 | 1988–89 |
| Amanat Baghdad | 1 | 1990–91 |
| Saad | 1 | 1991–92 |
| Al-Sulaikh | 1 | 1995–96 |
| Duhok | 1 | 1997–98 |
| Erbil | 1 | 1998–99 |
| Peshmerga Sulaymaniya | 1 | 2009–10 |
| Al-Shirqat | 1 | 2010–11 |
| Sulaymaniya | 1 | 2011–12 |
| Al-Samawa | 1 | 2014–15 |
| Al-Hussein | 1 | 2015–16 |
| Al-Diwaniya | 1 | 2016–17 |
| Al-Qasim | 1 | 2018–19 |
| Al-Sinaa | 1 | 2020–21 |
| Al-Hudood | 1 | 2021–22 |