2024–25 Lebanese Premier League

Lebanese Premier League
Season2024–25
Dates20 September 2024 – TBD 2025
Matches played6
Goals scored21 (3.5 per match)
Top goalscorer11 players (1 goals)
Biggest winAnsar 4-0 Shabab Baalbeck (22 September 2024)
All statistics correct as of 22 September 2024.

The 2024–25 Lebanese Premier League will be the 63rd season of the Lebanese Premier League, the top Lebanese league for football clubs since its establishment in 1934.

It will be the fifth season to feature a "split" format, following its introduction in the 2020–21 season, in which the season will be divided into two phases.

On 26 September 2024, the Lebanese Football Association suspended the season due to the escalation of the conflict in the south with Israel.[1] Following the ceasefire agreement with Israel on 27 November 2024, the Lebanese Football Association announced that the season would resume on 24 January 2025.[2]

Summary

Regulations

Each club has to involve one player under the age of 21 for at least 750 minutes, and two players for 1,000 combined minutes.[3] In case a club is not able to meet the required number of minutes at the end of the season, they would have three points deducted from their total in the league.[3]

Since the 2023–24 season, each club is able to have four foreign players under contract, an increase from the previous limit of three.[4] Furthermore, video assistant referee (VAR), was introduced to the Lebanese Premier League in the second half of the 2023–24 season. It uses technology and officials to assist the referee in making decisions on the pitch.[5]

Format

Following its introduction in the 2020–21 season, the 2024–25 season consists of two phases: in the first phase, each team plays against one another once.[6] In the second phase, the 12 teams are divided into two groups based on their position in the first phase. As introduced in the 2022–23 season, teams only carry over half of their point tally from the first phase.[7] After the first phase is completed, clubs can not move out of their own half in the league, even if they achieved more or fewer points than a higher or lower ranked team, respectively.[8]

The top six teams play against each other three times,[6] with the champion automatically qualifying to the AFC Challenge League.[9] The bottom six teams also play against each other three times, with the bottom two teams being relegated to the Lebanese Second Division.[6]

Teams

See also: List of football clubs in Lebanon

Twelve teams compete in the league – the top ten teams from the previous season and the two teams promoted from the Lebanese Second Division. The promoted teams are Riyadi Abbasiyah, who are playing their first season in the Lebanese Premier League, and Shabab Baalbeck, who returned to the top flight after an absence of five years. They replaced Tripoli and Ahly Nabatieh, who were relegated to the Lebanese Second Division after respective spells of 12 and one years in the top flight.

Stadiums and locations

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Locations of the 2024–25 Lebanese Premier League teams
Map
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3km
2miles
Shabab Sahel
Sagesse
Safa
Racing
Nejmeh
Bourj
Ansar
.
Ahed
Beirut Lebanese Premier League clubs
Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
Team Location Stadium Capacity
Ahed Beirut (Ouzai) Al Ahed Stadium[note 1] 2,000
Ansar Beirut (Tariq El Jdideh) Ansar Stadium[note 1] —
Bourj Beirut (Bourj el-Barajneh) Bourj el-Barajneh Stadium[note 1] 1,500
Chabab Ghazieh Ghazieh Kfarjoz Municipal Stadium 2,000
Nejmeh Beirut (Ras Beirut) Rafic Hariri Stadium[note 1] 5,000
Racing Beirut Beirut (Achrafieh) Fouad Chehab Stadium 5,000
Riyadi Abbasiyah Aabbassiyeh Abbass Kazem Nasser Stadium
Safa Beirut (Wata El Msaytbeh) Safa Stadium 4,000
Sagesse Beirut (Achrafieh) Sin El Fil Stadium[note 1] —
Shabab Baalbeck Baalbek Baalbek Municipal Stadium 8,500
Shabab Sahel Beirut (Haret Hreik) Shabab Al Sahel Stadium[note 1] —
Tadamon Sour Tyre Sour Municipal Stadium 6,500

Foreign players

Lebanese clubs are allowed to have four foreign players at their disposal at any time,[4] as well as unlimited Palestinian players born in Lebanon in a given match sheet (of which only one allowed among the eleven players on the field).[3] Moreover, each club competing in an AFC competition is allowed to field two extra foreign players, to be only played in continental matches, as the AFC allows six foreign players to play in the starting eleven (one of whom from an AFC country).[10]

  • Players in bold were registered during the mid-season transfer window.
  • Players in italics left the club during the mid-season transfer window.
Team Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Palestinian player(s) AFC player(s) Former players
Ahed Nigeria Andrew Ikefe Angola Ito Mauritania Mamadou Niass Egypt Ibrahim Eid [1] State of Palestine Samer Zubaida —
Ansar Senegal Elhadji Malick Tall Tunisia Rafik Mednini Algeria Hichem Houssam Eddine State of Palestine Hamza Hussein State of Palestine Mohamad Hebous
 —
Bourj Ghana Ibrahim Abdulai Ivory Coast Chris Calvin Nawatta Senegal Abdoulaye Fall Syria Abbas Shahine —
Chabab Ghazieh State of Palestine Ayman Abou Sahyoun —
Nejmeh Ghana Collins Opare Ghana Baba Abdulai Musah Ghana Nyanteh Kwabena Darko —
Racing Beirut Ivory Coast Carter Ahiro Republic of the Congo David Molinga Republic of the Congo Julfin Ondongo State of Palestine Jehad Abou El Aynein —
Riyadi Abbasiyah Ghana Ezra Amelinsa Lesotho Masoabi Synous Nkoto Ghana Issa Ali Nigeria Francis Amos Anointed State of Palestine Zaher Samahi —
Safa Kenya Benson Omala Tunisia Houssem Louati Cameroon Jerome Etame Cameroon Guy Claude Eke State of Palestine Islam Batran —
Sagesse Senegal Papa Sidibe Tunisia Hamza Zaak Senegal Papa Laye Dieng Senegal Alioune Faye —
Shabab Baalbeck Guinea Ibrahima Sauma Sierra Leone Ibrahim Camara Sierra Leone Suleiman Abdullah Keita Nigeria Collins Anigbo —
Shabab Sahel Nigeria Samad Kadiri Nigeria Reuben Gabriel Ghana Abbey Agbodzie State of Palestine Hadi Dakwar —
Tadamon Sour Brazil Guilherme Farias Dos Santos Senegal Baye Daour Badji Ghana Amissah Anfoh Assan Ghana Godfred Yeboah State of Palestine Mohammad Ismail —

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[a]
1 Ansar 1 1 0 0 4 0 +4 3 Qualification for the AFC Challenge League group stage
2 Safa 1 1 0 0 4 1 +3 3
3 Nejmeh 1 1 0 0 3 0 +3 3
4 Ahed 1 1 0 0 3 1 +2 3
5 Sagesse 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2 3
6 Tadamon Sour 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1 3
7 Riyadi Abbasiyah 1 0 0 1 1 2 −1 0
8 Bourj 1 0 0 1 1 3 −2 0
9 Shabab Sahel 1 0 0 1 0 2 −2 0
10 Racing Beirut 1 0 0 1 1 4 −3 0
11 Chabab Ghazieh 1 0 0 1 0 3 −3 0 Relegation to Lebanese Second Division
12 Shabab Baalbeck 1 0 0 1 0 4 −4 0
Updated to match(es) played on 22 September 2024. Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored; 6) Disciplinary points.
Notes:
  1. ^ Teams play each other once (11 matches), before the league is split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) where they play each other three times (15 matches). Teams carry over half their point tally from the first phase into the second phase.

Season statistics

Goalscorers

Hat-tricks

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f Only used as a training ground

References

  1. ^ "Lebanon indefinitely postpones all football matches amid Israel's attacks". Aljazeera. 26 September 2024.
  2. ^ https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/lebanon-fa-resume-football-tournaments-after-ceasefire-2024-11-29/
  3. ^ a b c الاتحاد اللبناني يقر النظام الفني لبطولة الدوري: 4 أجانب و4 مراحل وحسم نصف النقاط [The Lebanese Federation approves the technical system for the league championship: 4 foreigners, 4 stages, and a half-point decision]. Lebanon Football Guide (in Arabic). 29 May 2023. Archived from the original on 29 May 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b 84 ألف دولار دخل جديد للاتحاد اللبناني لكرة القدم [USD84,000: new income for the Lebanese Football Association]. Lebanon Football Guide (in Arabic). 19 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  5. ^ Khaled, Nasser (26 July 2023). تقنية الفيديو حاضرة في لقاء العهد والراسينغ [Video technology will be present in the match between Ahed and Racing]. Kooora (in Arabic). Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  6. ^ a b c Abou Diab, Rami (25 June 2020). "The new regulations for the Lebanese Premier League". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  7. ^ "بالصور: الاتحاد اللبناني يعلن تعديلات بالجملة". كووورة. 3 June 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  8. ^ "هل يُمكن أن يُحسم اللقب قبل الدورة السداسية؟". lebanonfg.com. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  9. ^ "AFC Club Competitions 2024/25 Slot Allocation" (PDF). Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  10. ^ "AFC Competitions Committee recommends strategic reforms to elevate Asian club football". the-AFC. Retrieved 1 August 2023.