| Iraqi Pro League Association رابطة دوري المحترفين العراقي | |
| Type: | Sports association |
| Headquarters: | Iraqi FA headquarters (temporary), Zayouna, Baghdad, Iraq |
| Leader Title: | CEO |
| Leader Name: | Matteo Mantovani |
| Main Organ: | General Assembly |
| Size: | 200px |
| Region Served: | Iraq |
| Membership: | 20 football clubs (To increase) |
The Iraqi Pro League Association (Arabic: رابطة دوري المحترفين العراقي;) is a sports association responsible for administering the two professional football leagues in Iraq, the Iraq Stars League and, from the 2024–25 season, Iraqi Premier Division League, with the possibility of the Iraqi First Division League becoming under its umbrella in the future. Founded in 2023, the organisation will have independent legal status from the Iraq Football Association (IFA) and it is autonomous in its operations. Its main role, in addition to defending its members' interests, is to organise the national league championship in conjunction with the IFA.[1] [2] [3]
The headquarters are temporarily based in the Iraqi FA headquarters in Zayouna, until the completion of the new sports complex that will house the headquarters of both the IFA as well as the IPLA independently.
The 20 member clubs (this number will increase from next season) of the IPLA are grouped into two divisions: Stars League (20 clubs) and, from next season, Premier Division League (20 clubs). In any given season a club plays each of the others in the same division twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents. This makes for a total of 38 games played each season in the Stars, Premier Division and First Division Leagues.
During the 2023–24 seasons of each the Premier Division League and the First Division League, which features 22 and 26 teams respectively, the number of relegated teams at the end of the season has been adjusted accordingly in order to make the number of teams equal to 20 in each of the leagues for the 2024–25 season.
For the 2023–24 season:
| Division | Promoted directly | Promoted via playoffs | Relegated via playoffs | Relegated | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iraq Stars League | Highest division | Highest division | 17th and 18th-placed teams enter relegation play-offs | Bottom two clubs | |
| Iraqi Premier Division League | Top two clubs | 3rd-placed team enters promotion play-off | No relegation playoffs | Bottom two clubs from each of the two First Round groups | |
| Iraqi First Division League | Top two clubs | No promotion playoffs | One from 6th-place finishers of First Round groups 1 & 2 | Bottom three clubs of each of the three First Round groups |
Clubs gain three points for a win, one for a draw, and none for a defeat. At the end of each season, the club with the most points in the Iraq Stars League is crowned champion. If points are equal, the head-to-head records determine the winner. If still equal, the goal difference, number of wins and goals scored then become the deciding factors. As for the Iraqi Premier Division League, at the top end two clubs win direct promotion to the Stars League, with the bottom two clubs from the Stars League taking their places. The 3rd-placed team in the Premier Division League competes in a play-off with the loser of the play-off between the 17th and 18th-placed teams in the Stars League for a place in next season's Stars League. For the 2023–24 season, four clubs are relegated to the Iraqi First Division League, with two clubs (the top team from each of the two Second Round groups) from the third tier getting promoted. The bottom three teams from each First Round group of the First Division League are automatically relegated, while the teams in 6th place out of the two groups that have 9 teams (Group 3 only has 8 teams) will play against each other in the relegation playoff, so 10 teams will be relegated to the Iraqi Second Division League, while four teams from the Second Division League join the First Division League in their stead.
The General Assembly is the deliberative assembly of the "Iraqi Pro League Association". It is composed of the football clubs and public limited sports companies that make up the Stars League and Premier Division. Each club is usually represented by its respective president.
Below is a list of club presidents
| Club | President | |
|---|---|---|
| Al-Hudood | Fouad Nasser Al-Rikabi | |
| Al-Kahrabaa | Ali Jabbar Al-Assadi | |
| Al-Karkh | Karim Hammadi | |
| Al-Karma | Muthanna Reikan Al-Halbousi | |
| Al-Minaa | Farhan Al-Fartousi | |
| Al-Naft | Moatasem Akram Hassan | |
| Al-Najaf | Ali Nayef Al-Ghazali | |
| Al-Qasim | Hussein Ali Al-Kaabi | |
| Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | Mohammed Souballah | |
| Al-Shorta | Abdul-Halim Fahem | |
| Al-Talaba | Salah Hadi Al-Fatlawi | |
| Al-Zawraa | Ahmed Al-Shaheed | |
| Diyala | Ahmed Al-Mousawi | |
| Duhok | Abdullah Jalal | |
| Erbil | Muayyed Maghdid | |
| Karbala | Ahmed Haddam | |
| Naft Al-Basra | Ali Hanoon | |
| Naft Maysan | Ahmed Salem | |
| Newroz | Lahur Talabany | |
| Zakho | Ammar Farhad Agha |
The CEO, along with the other members of the executive committee, is responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation. The current CEO is Matteo Mantovani, who holds the post from the founding of the association to the current day.
German sportswear company Puma became the official provider of match balls, as announced during the opening ceremony for the Iraq Stars League on 21 October 2023.