| Iraqi Premier Division League | |
| Pixels: | 150px |
| Country: | Iraq |
| Teams: | 20 |
| Promotion: | Iraq Stars League |
| Relegation: | Iraqi First Division League |
| Levels: | 2 |
| Domest Cup: | Iraq FA Cup |
| Confed Cup: | AFC Champions League Two (via Iraq FA Cup) |
| Champions: | Diyala (2nd title) |
| Most Champs: | Al-Minaa (3 titles) |
| Season: | 2023–24 |
| Tv: | Al-Iraqiya Sports |
| Current: | 2024–25 Iraqi Premier Division League |
The Iraqi Premier Division League (ar|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). Each season, the two top-finishing teams in the Premier Division League are automatically promoted to the Stars League, while the third-placed team enters a promotion play-off. The two lowest-finishing teams are relegated to the First Division League.
From the 2023–24 season, the competition's name was changed from First Division League to Premier Division League. In the 2023–24 season, Diyala won the title and was promoted alongside runners-up Al-Karma.[2] [3] Al-Minaa are the record holders in the tournament having won three titles.[4]
In November 2020, The Iraq FA announced that the number of teams will decrease from 28 to 24 in total starting from 2021 to 2022 season. To make these changes possible, the Iraq FA announced that in 2020–21 season, The top teams in each group are directly promoted to the top-tier, while 8 teams in total are directly relegated to third-tier.[5]
On April 8, 2023, the promotion and relegation mechanism was changed, and the Football Association announced the promotion of the winning team in each group directly to the top-tier, and the relegation of the last two teams in the standings in each group to the third-tier, as a result, two teams are promote and 4 teams are relegate.[6] [7]
| Period | Name | |
|---|---|---|
| 1974–1995 | National Clubs Second Division | |
| 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 |
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]
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| Club | Titles | Winning seasons |
|---|---|---|
| Al-Minaa | 3 | 1986–87, 1989–90, 2022–23 |
| Al-Ittihad | 2 | 1975–76, 1980–81 |
| Al-Bahri | 2 | 1978–79, 1985–86 |
| Kirkuk | 2 | 1982–83, 2000–01 |
| Al-Mosul | 2 | 1981–82, 2001–02 |
| Al-Karkh | 2 | 2012–13, 2017–18 |
| Diyala | 2 | 1996–97, 2023–24 |