| Countries | Libya |
|---|---|
| Confederation | CAF |
| Founded | 1963 |
| Number of teams | 16 |
| Levels on pyramid | 1 |
| Relegation to | Libyan Second Division |
| Domestic cup(s) | Al Fatih Cup Libyan Trophy |
| International cup(s) | Champions League Confederation Cup Arab Champions League |
| Current champions | Al Ittihad (2009–10) |
| Most championships | Al Ittihad (16) |
| TV partners | Libya Sports Jamahiriya TV |
| Website | LFF (Arabic) |
The Libyan Premier League (Arabic: دوري الدرجة الأولى الليبي) is the highest division of Libyan football championship, organised by Libyan Football Federation. The players that play in this league are mainly professional. The league's system has changed many times over the last few years, although as of the 2009–10 season, a simple round-robin has been operated.
The league operates a system of promotion and relegation with the Libyan Second Division. The league is currently sponsored by the Libyan telephone company Libyana, and so is officially known as the Libyana Premier League. Matches are usually played over a three or four day period, starting on Thursday and ending on Saturday or Sunday.
The league has been ranked by the IFFHS as 56th highest in the world for 2009, making it the 5th highest ranked league in the Arab world, after the Saudi Professional League, the Egyptian Premier League, the Algerian Championnat National, & the Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 [1]
The league's television rights are owned by Libya Sports. They also show a highlights program, called 90 Minutes, which broadcasts every week.
The league is dominated by two clubs: Al Ittihad and Al Ahly (Tripoli). 40 of the 41 titles have been won by clubs from the two biggest cities: Benghazi & Tripoli.
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The Libyan Premier League was founded in 1963. Prior to that, there were three Provincial Championships, one each for the Eastern, Western and Southern provinces. The first league season at national level was the 1963-64 season, in which participated the Western Province champion Al Ahly (Tripoli), the Eastern Province champion Al Ahly (Benghazi) and the Southern Province champion Hilal Sabha. After the withdrawal of Hilal Sabha due to lack of resources, the league was limited to just two teams. Al Ahly (Tripoli) defeated Al Ahly (Benghazi) 2-0 over two matches (1-0 home and away) to become the first Libyan Premier League champions.
As of 2009–10, there will be 14 teams competing in the league. During the course of a season, from October to June, each club plays each of the other teams twice; once at home and once away, totaling 26 games for each team by the end of the season. Therefore, in Libyan football a true round-robin format is used. In the first half of the season, called the ذهاب - Dhahaab, each team plays exactly one time against each league opponent, for a total of 13 games. In the second half of the season, called the إياب - Iyaab, the teams play in exactly the same order that they did in the first half of the season, the only difference being that home and away situations are switched. Since the 1992–93 season, teams were awarded three points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss.
If two or more teams are tied for a particular position, the tie-breaker is as follows:
Based on CAF's current 5 Year Ranking, only one representative will be proposed to compete in each of the CAF Confederation Cup and the CAF Champions League. These teams are the league champions and the domestic cup winners.
Due to Al Ittihad's success in the 2007 CAF Champions League, where they reached the Semi Final, the Libyan Premier League earned three points, meaning it could propose a further representative for each of the four following editions. In 2008, where Libya shared the 12th place ranking with Angola and Senegal, and was therefore allowed to propose a further representative to each competition. These two teams were Al Ahly (Tripoli) (runners-up), who qualified for the 2009 CAF Champions League and Al Ahly (Benghazi) (3rd place), who qualified for the 2009CAF Confederation Cup.
Al Ittihad are the most successful Libyan club, having won 16 titles, including 6 straight titles (from 2004–05 to 2009–10. Their arch rivals Al Ahly (Tripoli) have won it 10 times, but have not won the title since the 1999–2000 season.
The last team to win the title from outside the capital was Al Olympique, who won the league in the 2003–04 season. The Big Two (Al Ahly (Tripoli) & Al Ittihad) have won 29 of the 42 titles that have been contested since 1964.
Winners are:[2]
| Club | Winners | Runners-up | Winning Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Al Ittihad (Tripoli) |
|
|
1964–65, 1965–66, 1968–69, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09 2009–10, |
| Al Ahly (Tripoli) |
|
|
1963–64, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1977–78, 1983–84, 1993–94, 1994–95, 2000 |
| Al Ahly (Benghazi) |
|
|
1969–70, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1992–93 |
| Al Madina (Tripoli) |
|
|
1975–76, 1982–83, 2000–01 |
| Al Tahaddi (Benghazi) |
|
|
1966–68, 1976–77, 1996–97 |
| Al Mahala (Tripoli) |
|
|
1997–98, 1998–99 |
| Nasr (Benghazi) |
|
|
1987 |
| Al Dhahra |
|
|
1984–85 |
| Al Shat |
|
|
1995–96 |
| Al Olympique |
|
|
2003–04 |
| City | Titles | Winning Clubs |
|---|---|---|
| Tripoli |
|
Al Ittihad (15), Al Ahly (10), Al Madina (3), Al Mahala (2), Al Dhahra (1), Al Shat (1) |
| Benghazi |
|
Al Ahly (4), Al Tahaddi (3), Al Nasr (1) |
| Zawiya |
|
Al Olympique (1) |
| Team | Location | Sha'biyah | Stadium | Capacity[4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Ahly | Benghazi | Benghazi | Martyrs of February Stadium | 10,550 |
| Al Ahly | Tripoli | Tripoli | 11 June Stadium | 65,000 |
| Al Akhdar | Bayda | Jabal al Akhdar | Owol September Stadium | 10,000 |
| Al Hilal | Benghazi | Benghazi | Martyrs of February Stadium | 10,550 |
| Al Ittihad | Tripoli | Tripoli | 11 June Stadium | 65,000 |
| Al Madina | Tripoli | Tripoli | 11 June Stadium | 65,000 |
| Al Najma | Benghazi | Benghazi | Martyrs of February Stadium | 10,550 |
| Al Nasr | Benghazi | Benghazi | Martyrs of February Stadium | 10,550 |
| Al Olympique | Zawiya | Zawiya | Zaawia Stadium | 6,000 |
| Al Shat | Tripoli | Tripoli | GMR Stadium | 20,000 |
| Al Swihli | Misrata | Misrata | 9 July Stadium | 10,000 |
| Al Tahaddi | Benghazi | Benghazi | March 28 Stadium | 55,000 |
| Al Tirsana | Tripoli | Tripoli | GMR Stadium | 20,000 |
| Al Wahda | Tripoli | Tripoli | Ali Alsgozy Stadium | 3,000 |
| Darnes | Derna | Bayda | Al Bayda Stadium | 10,000 |
| Khaleej Sirte | Sirte | Sirte | 2 March Stadium | 2,000 |
Top scorers are:
| Season | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963-64 | Ahmed Ben Sawed | Al Ahly (Benghazi) | 19 |
| 1964-65 | Ahmed Ben Sawed | Al Ahly (Benghazi) | 18 |
| 1965-66 | Ahmed Al Ahwal | Al Ittihad | 14 |
| 1966-67 | Hassan Snousi | Al Ahly (Tripoli) | 12 |
| 1968-69 | Mohamed Boughalia | Al Ahly (Tripoli) | 16 |
| 1970-71 | Yousef Sidqi | Al Nasr | 15 |
| 1971-72 | Yousef Sidqi | Al Nasr | 12 |
| 1972-73 | Nouri Alsirri | Al Madina | 17 |
| 1973-74 | Nouri Alsirri | Al Madina | 13 |
| 1974-75 | Nouri Alsirri | Al Madina | 17 |
| 1975-76 | Mustafa Belhaaj | Al Madina | 19 |
| 1976-77 | Abubakr Douzan | Al Madina | 15 |
| 1977-78 | Fahim Raqs | Al Ahly (Tripoli) | 8 |
| 1982-83 | Nouri Alsirri | Al Madina | 17 |
| 1983-84 | Abdulraouf Ferjany | Al Dhahra | 11 |
| 1984-85 | Ramadan Barnaoui | Al Ahly (Benghazi) | 9 |
| 1985-86 | Salim Bou Jarrad | Al Ittihad | 11 |
| 1986-87 | Faraj Bar'asi | Al Nasr | 12 |
| 1987-88 | Salim Bou Jarrad | Al Ittihad | 11 |
| 1988-89 | Faraj Meeloud | Al Tahaddi | 6 |
| 1989-90 | Ali Bashary Nasr Badr |
Al Ahly (Benghazi) Afriqi |
11 |
| 1990-91 | Idris Mikraaz | Darnes | 11 |
| 1991-92 | Abdelhakeem Suwayyah | Al Tirsana | 12 |
| 1992-93 | Abdelhakeem Suwayyah | Al Tirsana | 14 |
| 1993-94 | Idrees Mikraaz | Al Ahly (Tripoli) | 19 |
| 1994-95 | Mohamed Milaad Hassan Othman |
Ittihad Gheryan Al Morooj |
6 |
| 1995-96 | Muammar Masoud | Al Shat | 10 |
| 1996-97 | Khalifa Maqinny | Al Hilal | 12 |
| 1997-98 | Khalifa Maqinny | Al Hilal | 14 |
| 1998-99 | Mustafa Ramadan Abdelaaty Qubay |
Al Ahly (Benghazi) Al Intilaaq |
13 |
| 1999-00 | Ahmed Saad | Benghazi Al Jadeeda | 8 |
| 2000-01 | Ashraf Muammar Ali Melyaan |
Al Tahaddi Al Madina |
14 |
| 2001-02 | Al-Saadi Gaddafi | Al Ittihad | 19 |
| 2002-03 | Ahmed El Masli Khaled Shallabi |
Al Nasr Al Madina |
13 |
| 2003-04 | Ahmed Saad | Al Nasr | 14 |
| 2004-05 | Sheikh Sedao | Al Urouba | 12 |
| 2005-06 | Samir Al Wahaj | Al Wahda | 18 |
| 2006-07 | Walid Shebli | Al Madina | 13 |
| 2007-08 | Abdelhameed Zidane | Al Akhdar | 21 |
| 2008–09 | Samir Al Wahaj | Al Tirsana | 19 |
| 2009–10 | Rasheed al Deasy | Al Shat | 15 |
The rules can be found on the official LFF website[5]
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