2024–25 Iraq Stars League

The 2024–25 Iraq Stars League will be the 51st season of the highest tier football league in Iraq since its establishment in 1974, and the second season since launching as a professional league under the name Iraq Stars League. The season will start on 20 September 2024 and will end in July 2025.^[1]

20 teams are set to compete in the 2024–25 Iraq Stars League: 18 teams from the previous season, as well as Diyala and Al-Karma who were promoted from the 2023–24 Iraqi Premier Division League, replacing Amanat Baghdad and Naft Al-Wasat who were relegated.^[2] Diyala are returning to the top-flight after a 13-year absence, while Al-Karma will play in the top-flight for the first time in history this season.

Al-Shorta are the defending champions, having won the league in the previous three seasons.

Baghdad

Basra

Al-Karma

Al-Najaf

Al-Qasim

Diyala

Erbil

Karbala

Newroz

Naft Maysan

Zakho

Duhok

Baghdad teams
Al-Hudood
Al-Kahrabaa
Al-Karkh
Al-Naft
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
Al-Shorta
Al-Talaba
Al-Zawraa

Basra teams
Al-Minaa
Naft Al-Basra

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Locations of the 2024–25 Iraq Stars League teams

Team	Manager	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Al-Hudood	Haidar Abdul-Amir	Baghdad (14 July)	Al-Saher Ahmed Radhi Stadium	5,150
Al-Kahrabaa	Wali Karim	Baghdad (Al-Wazireya Al-Sinaaiya)	Al-Zawraa Stadium	15,443
Al-Karkh	Haitham Shaaban	Baghdad (Al-Mansour)	Al-Saher Ahmed Radhi Stadium	5,150
Al-Karma	Ghazi Fahad	Anbar (Al-Karma)	Al-Ramadi Stadium	10,000
Al-Minaa	Pablo Grandes	Basra (Maqal)	Al-Minaa Olympic Stadium	30,000
Al-Naft	Adel Nima	Baghdad (Shaab)	Al-Madina Stadium	32,000
Al-Najaf	Abdul-Ghani Shahad	Najaf	Al-Najaf International Stadium	30,000
Al-Qasim	Ayman Hakeem	Babil (Al-Qasim)	Al-Najaf International Stadium	30,000
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Wesam Rizik	Baghdad (Zayouna)	Al-Shaab Stadium	35,700
Al-Shorta	Ahmed Salah	Baghdad (Zayouna)	Al-Shaab Stadium	35,700
Al-Talaba	Basim Qasim	Baghdad (Hayy Qahira)	Al-Shaab Stadium	35,700
Al-Zawraa	Essam Hamad	Baghdad (Sheikh Maaruf, Al-Shaljiya)	Al-Zawraa Stadium	15,443
Diyala	Sadeq Hanoon	Diyala (Baqubah)	Al-Madina Stadium	32,000
Duhok	Mesut Meral	Duhok	Duhok Stadium	22,800
Erbil	Samir Babo	Erbil	Franso Hariri Stadium	25,000
Karbala	Hassan Ahmed	Karbala	Karbala International Stadium	30,000
Naft Al-Basra	Andrej Panadić	Basra (Al-Khadhraa)	Al-Minaa Olympic Stadium	30,000
Naft Maysan	Ali Abdul-Jabbar	Maysan (Amarah)	Maysan Olympic Stadium	25,000
Newroz	Jorvan Vieira	Sulaymaniya	Sulaymaniya Stadium	15,000
Zakho	Talal Al-Bloushi	Duhok (Zakho)	Zakho International Stadium	20,000

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in the table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Al-Hudood	Adel Nima	Mutual consent	End of previous season	Pre-season	Haidar Abdul-Amir	Start of current season
Al-Kahrabaa	Luay Salah	Mutual consent	End of previous season	Pre-season	Wali Karim	Start of current season
Al-Minaa	Hassan Ahmed	Mutual consent	End of previous season	Pre-season	Pablo Grandes	Start of current season
Al-Naft	Basim Qasim	Mutual consent	End of previous season	Pre-season	Adel Nima	Start of current season
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Razzaq Farhan	Mutual consent	End of previous season	Pre-season	Wesam Rizik	Start of current season
Al-Shorta	Moamen Soliman	Mutual consent	End of previous season	Pre-season	Ahmed Salah	Start of current season
Al-Talaba	Qahtan Chathir	Mutual consent	End of previous season	Pre-season	Basim Qasim	Start of current season
Duhok	Ahmed Khalaf	Mutual consent	End of previous season	Pre-season	Mesut Meral	Start of current season
Karbala	Chasib Sultan	Mutual consent	End of previous season	Pre-season	Carlos Hernandez	Start of current season
Naft Al-Basra	Haitham Al-Shaboul	Mutual consent	End of previous season	Pre-season	Andrej Panadić	Start of current season
Newroz	Nizar Mahrous	Mutual consent	End of previous season	Pre-season	Jorvan Vieira	Start of current season
Karbala	Carlos Hernandez	Mutual consent	Prior to the start of the season	Pre-season	Hassan Ahmed	Start of current season

The rules for the squad selection of the Iraq Stars League^[3]:

• Each club must submit a 25-man squad for the league.
• Each club must have no more than 6 foreigners in their squad.
• Clubs must sign at least 4 players whose countries are within the top 90 in the FIFA International World Rankings.
• The two permitted players from countries below the top 90 must be capped for their respective national teams.
• Clubs must not sign a foreign goalkeeper.
• Players from Yemen do not coutribute to the foreigner limit, capped at 2 players per team
• Players registered for the Iraq Reserves Stars League are not required to be registered in the 25-man squad.

The summer transfer window in Iraq started on 2 August and will end on 2 October 2024, while the winter transfer window will start on 5 January 2025 and will end on 5 February 2025.^[4]

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Player 5	Player 6	Yemeni players	Former players
Al-Hudood	Romuald Dacosta	Mohamed Dellahi	Stiwar Mena	Harlin Suárez	Mouhamed Soueid	Paulo Victor
Al-Kahrabaa	Aniyikaye Adeleye	Gbolagade Adelowo	David Ikegoba	Farouk Mohammed	Ruan Teles
Al-Karkh	Caio Acaraú	Christ Kouvouama	Mohannad Abu Taha	Leanderson Lucas	Anass Nouader	Ifeanyi Eze
Al-Karma	Jeferson Bahia	Najeh Ferjani	Wenderson	Frank Cédric Abogo	Herenilson	John Okoli	Omar Al-Dahi
Al-Minaa	Raúl Parra	Gerald Takwara	Abdallah Amri	Clech Loufilou	Tuisila Kisinda	Lolo Plá
Al-Naft	Samson Dare	Joel Tchofo	Valentine Odoh	Ramses Donfack	Mohammed Sadat	Sami Hien	Ahmed Al-Sarori
Al-Najaf	Moustapha Fall	Denny Antwi	Magnime Agbotcho	Dominique Mendy	Iyayi Atiemwen	Rajaei Ayed
Al-Qasim	Mo Abualnadi	Elie Sou	Odeni George	Karim Abubakar	Messouke Oloumou
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Arnold Temanfo	Carlos Salazar	Ahmed Isaiah	Jonathan Bustos	Carlos Enrique	Gerald Kilota
Al-Shorta	Abdoul Madjid Moumouni	Mohammad Abu Zrayq	Idrissa Niang	Lucas Santos	Salomon Banga	Otto John		Djamel Benlamri[5][6]
Al-Talaba	Ghaith Maaroufi	Ngweni Ndassi	Habib Oueslati	Austin Amutu	Ronald Ngah	Simon Msuva	Hamza Al-Rimi
Al-Zawraa	Lassana Faye	Hasan Srour	Anouar Tarkhatt	Clarence Bitang
Diyala	Habib Omar Fofana	Bakary N'Diaye	Nathaniel Nangolo	Ducapel Moloko	Benjamin Okoronkwo	Mateus Toto
Duhok	Gilbert Koomson	Wonlo Coulibaly	Reuben Acquah	Moisés	Yannick Zakri
Erbil	Hélio	Bilel Ifa	Higor Vidal	Collin Anderson	Youssef Ben Souda
Karbala
Naft Al-Basra	Kangnivi Ama Tchoutchoui	Ismaïl Ouro-Agoro
Naft Maysan	Okiki Afolabi	Dare Olatunji	Daouda Diémé	Alexandré Yeoule	Usman Sale	Soualio Dabilo Ouattara	Ahmed Maher
Newroz	Cláudio Maradona	Wellington Taira	Daniel Kamy	Inters Gui	Ifeanyi Ifeanyi	Gilmar
Zakho	Patrick Marcelino	Moisés Wolschick	Mohammad Abu Hashish	Ayoub Nanah	Gustavo Henrique		Nasser Mohammedoh

The 18th-placed team in the Stars League will compete in a play-off with the 3rd-placed team from the Premier Division League for a place in next season's Stars League.

• Official website (in Arabic)
• Iraq Football Association