2024–25 Lebanese Premier League Explained

Competition:Lebanese Premier League
Season:2024–25
Dates:TBD
League Topscorer Section:Goalscorers
Prevseason:2023–24
Nextseason:2025–26

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.

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.[1] 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.

Since the 2023–24 season, each club is able to have four foreign players under contract, an increase from the previous limit of three.[2] 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.[3]

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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6]

The top six teams play against each other three times, with the champion automatically qualifying to the AFC Challenge League.[7] The bottom six teams also play against each other three times, with the bottom two teams being relegated to the Lebanese Second Division.

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

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

TeamLocationStadiumCapacity
AhedAl Ahed Stadium
AnsarAnsar Stadium
BourjBourj el-Barajneh Stadium
Chabab GhaziehGhaziehKfarjoz Municipal Stadium
NejmehRafic Hariri Stadium
Racing BeirutFouad Chehab Stadium
Riyadi AbbasiyahAabbassiyehAbbass Kazem Nasser Stadium
SafaSafa Stadium
SagesseSin El Fil Stadium
Shabab BaalbeckBaalbekBaalbek Municipal Stadium
Shabab SahelShabab Al Sahel Stadium
Tadamon SourTyreSour Municipal Stadium

Foreign players

Lebanese clubs are allowed to have four foreign players at their disposal at any time, 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). 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).[8]

TeamPlayer 1Player 2Player 3Player 4Palestinian player(s)AFC player(s)Former players
Ahed Andrew Ikefe
Ansar Elhadji Malick Tall Rafik Mednini Hichem Houssam Eddine Hamza Hussein Mohamad Hebous
Bourj
Chabab Ghazieh Ayman Abou Sahyoun
Nejmeh
Racing Beirut Danin Talović Jehad Abou El Aynein
Riyadi Abbasiyah
Safa Benson Omala Houssem Louati Rodney Michael Guy Claude Eke Islam Batran
Sagesse
Shabab Baalbeck
Shabab Sahel Hadi Dakwar
Tadamon Sour Ghassan Sarriyeh

League table

Season statistics

Hat-tricks

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 29 May 2023 . ar: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 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20230529143147/http://lebanonfg.com/single/4005 . 29 May 2023 . 3 May 2024 . Lebanon Football Guide . ar.
  2. Web site: 19 June 2023 . ar:84 ألف دولار دخل جديد للاتحاد اللبناني لكرة القدم . USD84,000: new income for the Lebanese Football Association . 21 June 2023 . Lebanon Football Guide . ar.
  3. Web site: Khaled . Nasser . 26 July 2023 . ar:تقنية الفيديو حاضرة في لقاء العهد والراسينغ . Video technology will be present in the match between Ahed and Racing . 27 July 2023 . Kooora . ar.
  4. Web site: Abou Diab. Rami. 2020-06-25. The new regulations for the Lebanese Premier League. 2020-06-25. FA Lebanon. en-US.
  5. Web site: 2022-06-03 . بالصور: الاتحاد اللبناني يعلن تعديلات بالجملة . 2022-06-12 . كووورة.
  6. Web site: هل يُمكن أن يُحسم اللقب قبل الدورة السداسية؟. 2020-10-28. lebanonfg.com. en.
  7. Web site: AFC Club Competitions 2024/25 Slot Allocation . 7 August 2023 . Asian Football Confederation.
  8. Web site: AFC Competitions Committee recommends strategic reforms to elevate Asian club football . 2023-08-01 . the-AFC . en.