Lebanese Premier League facts for kids

The Lebanese Premier League is the top football league in Lebanon. It's where the best football clubs in the country play against each other. There are 12 teams in the league. Teams can move up to this league or down to the Lebanese Second Division. This system is called promotion and relegation.

The league started in May 1934. The first team to win was Nahda. The club with the most wins is Ansar, with 14 titles. Ansar even set a Guinness World Record! They won the league 11 times in a row, from 1988 to 1999. Since 2020, the league uses a "split" system. This means the season is played in two parts.

History of Lebanese Football

A Beirut derby match between Nejmeh and Ansar during the 2019–20 season.

The Lebanese Football Association (LFA) was created on 22 March 1933. Thirteen football clubs came together in Beirut to form it. The Lebanese Premier League began in May 1934. It was first called the Edmond Rubeiz Cup. This was to honor Edmond Rubeiz, a player from the Nahda club who had passed away.

The first competition was a knockout tournament. Nahda won the first title, beating DPHB 7–1 in the final. In the early years, Nahda, AUB, and DPHB often won the titles.

From the 1940s to the 1960s, Armenian clubs were very strong. These included Homenetmen and Homenmen. They won 11 titles in 16 seasons. The league stopped for 12 years because of the Lebanese Civil War.

After the war, Ansar took over. They won 11 league titles in a row from 1988 to 1999. This set a Guinness World Record for most consecutive league titles. Later, a team from Latvia broke this record.

Nejmeh ended Ansar's winning streak. They won four titles between 2000 and 2005. Since the late 2000s, Ahed has become a very strong team. They won their first league title in 2008. Since then, they have won a total of nine titles.

In 2019, Ahed won the league for the third time in a row. Ansar had only done this once before, in 1992. The 2019–20 season was canceled. This was due to money problems and other issues in the country, plus the COVID-19 pandemic.

How the League Works

There are 12 clubs in the Lebanese Premier League. Teams get points for their games.

• A win gives them three points.
• A draw (tie) gives them one point.
• A loss gives them no points.

Teams are ranked by their total points. If teams have the same points, other things are checked. These include how they played against each other and their goal difference.

The "Split" System

Before the 2020–21 season, each team played every other team twice. This meant 22 games in total.

Now, the league uses a "split" system. Each season has two parts.

• In the first part, each team plays every other team once. This is 11 games.
• After that, the league splits into two groups: the "top six" and the "bottom six."
• Teams then play more games against the teams in their own group.
• Points from the first part of the season carry over to the second part. Since 2022–23, these points are cut in half. This system has been seen as a good change for Lebanese football.

Moving Up and Down

Teams can move between the Lebanese Premier League and the Lebanese Second Division. This system started in 1935.

The two teams at the bottom of the Lebanese Premier League are moved down to the Second Division. The top two teams from the Second Division are moved up to the Premier League.

Video Assistant Referee (VAR)

Video assistant referee (VAR) was added to the Lebanese Premier League in 2024. VAR uses technology and officials to help the referee make correct decisions during a match. The first time VAR was tested was in a game between Ahed and Racing Beirut in August 2023.

Clubs and Champions

Previous Winners

Wins by club

Club	Wins	Winning years
Ansar	14	1987–88, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2020–21
Ahed	9	2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2021–22, 2022–23
Nejmeh	8	1972–73, 1974–75, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2008–09, 2013–14
Homenetmen	7	1943–44, 1945–46, 1947–48, 1950–51, 1954–55, 1962–63, 1968–69
Nahda	5	1933–34, 1941–42, 1942–43, 1946–47, 1948–49
Homenmen	4	1944–45, 1953–54, 1956–57, 1960–61
AUB	3	1934–35, 1936–37, 1937–38
DPHB		1935–36, 1938–39, 1940–41
Racing Beirut		1955–56, 1964–65, 1969–70
Safa		2011–12, 2012–13, 2015–16
Shabiba Mazraa	1	1966–67
Olympic Beirut		2002–03

Teams in the 2023–24 Season

Here are the 12 clubs playing in the Lebanese Premier League for the 2023–24 season.

Watching the Games

MTV Lebanon broadcasts games from the Lebanese Premier League. They started showing matches in the 2016–17 season. They show three live games each week. They also make weekly highlight shows.

From 2020 to 2022, the LFA also showed other weekly games on its YouTube channel. In October 2022, the LFA and FIFA made a deal. Now, all matches in the Lebanese Second Division, Lebanese Super Cup, and Lebanese Women's Football League are shown on the FIFA+ platform. FIFA+ also shows the Premier League games that MTV doesn't cover.

Stadiums and Fans

The Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium in 2018

In 2005, the Lebanese government stopped fans from attending games. This was because they were worried about safety. After six years, in 2011, the ban was lifted. Fans were allowed to come back to the stadiums.

At first, not many people came to watch. But slowly, more and more spectators started to show up. By 2018, fan groups called "ultras" began to form. Nejmeh's "Ultras Supernova" was the first. Other teams like Ansar, Ahed, and Bourj quickly formed their own fan groups too.

Players in the League

Foreign Players and Transfers

Before the 2023–24 season, teams could have three foreign players on the field at one time. They could also have up to two extra Palestinian players born in Lebanon on their team list. However, only one Palestinian player could be on the field at a time.

Now, teams can have four foreign players. There is no limit to how many Palestinian players can be on the team list, but still only one can play at a time. Teams playing in AFC competitions can have even more foreign players for those specific matches.

Since 1998–99, the Lebanese Football Association has not allowed foreign goalkeepers. Because of money problems in Lebanon, teams were not allowed to have foreign players in the league for some time (2020–21 and part of 2021–22).

Players can only be transferred (moved between teams) during special times. These times are called "transfer windows." The two transfer windows are from May 15 to July 25, and from January 1 to January 30.

Young Homegrown Players

Since the 2019–20 season, teams must include a certain number of players under 21 years old. This rule applies to both the Lebanese Premier League and the Lebanese FA Cup. This helps young players get experience. If a club doesn't meet the required playing time for these young players, they lose points.

The rules for how many minutes young players must play have changed over time. For the 2023–24 season, one player under 21 must play at least 750 minutes. Two players under 21 must play a combined total of 1,000 minutes. Also, teams can only have a maximum of eight players over 30 years old. Only five of these older players can be on the field during a game.

Top Goal Scorers

Vardan Ghazaryan is the second-highest goalscorer in Lebanese Premier League history with 117 goals.

Rank	Name	Years	Goals
1	Fadi Alloush	1985–1999	120
2	Vardan Ghazaryan	1992–2002, 2003–2004, 2006–2009	117
3	Abbas Ahmed Atwi	1997–2012, 2012–2022	113
4	Mohammad Kassas	1999–2005, 2006–2008, 2008–2011, 2016–2017	104
	Hassan Maatouk	2004–2011, 2017–present	104

Italics denotes players still playing football,
Bold denotes players still playing in the Lebanese Premier League.

The Golden Boot award goes to the player who scores the most goals each season. Fadi Alloush holds the record for the most goals ever in the Lebanese Premier League, with 120 goals. Seven players have won the Golden Boot more than once. Fadi Alloush also holds the record for most goals in one season, scoring 32 goals for Ansar.

Official Match Ball

The Lebanese Football Association signed a deal with the German company Jako in 2019. Jako makes the official match ball for the league. The Jako Match 2.0 became the official ball for the 2019–20 season. Since 2020, the Jako Galaxy Match 2.0 has been used.

See also

• Football in Lebanon
• Lebanese football league system
• Lebanese Women's Football League
• Lebanon national football team
• Al-Manar Football Festival
• List of top-division football clubs in AFC countries