2002–03_Iraqi_Premier_League

2002–03 Iraqi First Division League

2002–03 Iraqi First Division League

Football league season


The 2002–03 Iraqi First Division League was the 29th season of the top-tier Iraqi national football league since its establishment in 1974. Organised by the Iraq Football Association (IFA), the league's name was changed to Iraqi First Division League, and it started on 6 September 2002.

Quick Facts Season, Champions ...

27 rounds of the league were played before the 2003 invasion of Iraq began on 20 March 2003.[1] Despite the outbreak of the Iraq War, matches continued with free entry for spectators, and games from rounds 28 and 29 were played in the midst of the conflict.[2][3] The last matches were played on 28 March before the league stopped and Saddam Hussein's government was overthrown, leading to the formation of a new IFA committee.[4]

The IFA revealed on 6 May that it was considering holding a play-off between the top four Baghdad clubs to decide who would qualify for the 2003 Arab Unified Club Championship.[5] However, the IFA then announced on 30 May that Al-Shorta had been chosen to participate as they were leading the league table at the end of round 27 before the outbreak of war.[6][7] The IFA later announced that the 2002–03 league competition had been cancelled and that the league table at the end of round 27 would also be used to determine the clubs that qualified for the Baghdad Championship and the AFC Champions League.[8][9]

League table used to determine qualifications

More information Pos, Team ...
Source: Ali Al-Sabti Archive
Notes:
  1. The IFA initially planned to admit Al-Najaf into the AFC Champions League,[9] but Al-Najaf were not ready to participate and the IFA thus gave the slot to Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, the next highest-placed team in the table that had not already been admitted into a continental or regional competition. When informed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) that participation in the AFC Champions League should be for the league champions and the FA Cup winners (Al-Talaba), the IFA asked the AFC to give it freedom in choosing its participating clubs due to the league not being completed.[10] The AFC agreed to the IFA's request and therefore Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya entered the competition alongside Al-Shorta.

Results

More information Home \ Away, BSR ...
Source: Ali Al-Sabti Archive
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. Match results from rounds 28 and 29 (played after the outbreak of war) were not considered in the league table that was used to determine qualifications to other tournaments. This includes the following results:[11]
    • Al-Basra 1–1 Al-Zawraa
    • Al-Karkh 2–1 Al-Mosul
    • Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 1–0 Al-Najaf
    • Al-Shorta 6–3 Al-Difaa Al-Jawi
    • Al-Difaa Al-Jawi 7–2 Kirkuk
    • Al-Jaish 0–0 Al-Sinaa
    • Al-Zawraa 3–0 Samarra

Season statistics

Hat-tricks

More information Player, For ...
Notes

4 Player scored 4 goals


References

  1. "الدوري العراقي". 29 March 2003.
  2. Kitz, Sami (28 March 2003). "القنابل الاميركية لم تحل دون استمرار الدوري العراقي". MEO News. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  3. "Al-Najaf to participate in the Asian Champions League". Iraq Soccer. 14 October 2003. Archived from the original on 2004-01-17.
  4. "من سيمثك العراق في بطولة الأندية الآسيوية؟" (PDF). Al-Taakhi Newspaper. 30 November 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2004-06-28.
  5. Al-Sabti, Ali (2014). Iraqi League History 1974-2011. Iraq.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. "Iraq 2002/03". RSSSF. 25 July 2019.

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