Iraqi Pro League Association

Iraqi national association football organization
Iraqi Pro League Association
رابطة دوري المحترفين العراقي
Formation26 October 2023; 5 months ago (2023-10-26)
TypeSports association
HeadquartersIraqi FA headquarters (temporary), Zayouna, Baghdad, Iraq
Region served
Iraq
Membership
20 football clubs (To increase)
CEO
Matteo Mantovani
Main organ
General Assembly

The Iraqi Pro League Association (Arabic: رابطة دوري المحترفين العراقي; IPLA) 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.

Competitions

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 One from 18th and 19th-place finishers Bottom club
Iraqi Premier Division League Top two clubs No promotion playoffs One from 3rd to 6th-place finishers Bottom two clubs from each of the two group
Iraqi First Division League The two Second Round group winners No promotion playoffs One from 6th-place finishers of Groups 1 & 2 Bottom three clubs of each of the three 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 promotion to the Stars League, with the bottom club and the loser of the relegation playoff between 18th and 19th place from the Stars League taking their places. 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 groups in the second round) from the third tier getting promoted. The bottom three teams from each group of the first round 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.

Member clubs

Stars League

Iraq Stars League

Premier Division League

Iraqi Premier Division League (future)

First Division League

Iraqi First Division League (future)

Structure

General Assembly

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.

Chief Executive Officer

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.

CEO Term
Italy Matteo Mantovani 2023–present

Sponsorships

Match balls

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.

  • 2023–present: Puma Orbita

See also

References

  1. ^ "Dirjal reveals undisclosed details about the Iraqi Pro League" (in Arabic). Winwin. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  2. ^ "Iraq signs 2 contracts with Spanish La Liga to develop Iraqi football". Xinhua. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  3. ^ "Dirjal: Iraq's qualification for the 2026 World Cup begins with the establishment of a professional league". Sports Asharq (in Arabic). 8 July 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
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