Lebanese Premier League
Season2023–24
Dates4 August 2023 – TBD 2024
Matches played66
Goals scored180 (2.73 per match)
Top goalscorerElhadji Malick Tall (8 goals)
Biggest winShabab Sahel 0–5 Ahed
(6 August 2023)
Ahed 5–0 Chabab Ghazieh
(7 December 2023)
Highest scoringAhed 5–1 Racing Beirut
(6 August 2023)
Tripoli 2–4 Safa
(1 October 2023)
Nejmeh 1–5 Ansar
(8 December 2023)
2024–25 →
All statistics correct as of 16 December 2023.

The 2023–24 Lebanese Premier League is the 62nd season of the Lebanese Premier League, the top Lebanese professional league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1934. The league started on 4 August 2023.[1]

It is the fourth season to feature a "split" format, following its introduction in the 2020–21 season, in which the season is divided into two phases.

Summary

Regulations

Each club has to involve two players under the age of 21 for at least 2,000 combined minutes, and three players for 3,000 combined minutes.[2] Also, each club is allowed a maximum of eight players over the age of 30, with only five being able to be fielded in a game.[3] In case a club is not able to meet the required number of minutes at the end of the season, they would have three points deducted from their total in the league.[3]

Starting from this season, each club is able to have four foreign players under contract, an increase from the previous limit of three.[4] Furthermore, Video assistant referee (VAR), will be introduced to the Lebanese Premier League in the second half of the 2023–24 season. It uses technology and officials to assist the referee in making decisions on the pitch. The match between Ahed and Racing Beirut in the first matchday, on 6 August 2023, was the first to test the use of VAR.[5]

Format

Following its introduction in the 2020–21 season, the 2023–24 season will consist of two phases: in the first phase, each team plays against one another once.[6] In the second phase, the 12 teams will be divided into two groups based on their position in the first phase. As introduced in the 2022–23 season, teams will only carry over half of their point tally from the first phase.[2] After the first phase is completed, clubs can not move out of their own half in the league, even if they achieved more or fewer points than a higher or lower ranked team, respectively.[7]

The top six teams will play against each other twice.[6] Due to a restructuring of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) competitions,[8] the champion automatically qualifies to the newly-introduced third tier competition: the AFC Challenge League.[9] The bottom six teams will also play against each other twice, with the bottom two teams being relegated to the Lebanese Second Division.[6]

Teams

Twelve teams are competing in the league – the top ten teams from the 2022–23 Lebanese Premier League season and the two teams promoted from the Lebanese Second Division.

Twelve teams will compete in the league – the top ten teams from the previous season and the two teams promoted from the Lebanese Second Division. The promoted teams are Racing Beirut, who will return to the top flight after an absence of four years, and Ahly Nabatieh, who will play their first season in the Lebanese Premier League. They will replace Akhaa Ahli Aley and Salam Zgharta, who were relegated to the Lebanese Second Division after respective spells of seven and one years in the top flight.

Stadiums and locations

🌍
Beirut Lebanese Premier League clubs

Prior to the start of each season, every team chose two stadiums as their home venues. In case both stadiums were unavailable for a certain matchday, another venue was used.

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
Team Location Stadium Capacity
Ahed Beirut (Ouzai) Al Ahed Stadium[note 1] 2,000
Ahly Nabatieh Nabatieh Kfarjoz Municipal Stadium 2,000
Ansar Beirut (Tariq El Jdideh) Ansar Stadium[note 1] —
Bourj Beirut (Bourj el-Barajneh) Bourj el-Barajneh Stadium[note 1] 1,500
Chabab Ghazieh Ghazieh Kfarjoz Municipal Stadium 2,000
Nejmeh Beirut (Ras Beirut) Rafic Hariri Stadium[note 1] 5,000
Racing Beirut Beirut (Achrafieh) Fouad Chehab Stadium 5,000
Safa Beirut (Wata El Msaytbeh) Safa Stadium 4,000
Sagesse Beirut (Achrafieh) Sin El Fil Stadium[note 1] —
Shabab Sahel Beirut (Haret Hreik) Shabab Al Sahel Stadium[note 1] —
Tadamon Sour Tyre Sour Municipal Stadium 6,500
Tripoli Tripoli Tripoli Municipal Stadium 10,000

Foreign players

Lebanese clubs are allowed to have four foreign players at their disposal at any time,[4] as well as two extra Palestinian players born in Lebanon in a given match sheet (both of whom can not be fielded at the same time in a match).[10] Moreover, each club competing in an AFC competition is allowed to field two extra foreign players, to be only played in continental matches, as the AFC allows six foreign players to play in the starting eleven (one of whom from an AFC country).[11]

  • Players in bold were registered during the mid-season transfer window.
  • Players in italics left the club during the mid-season transfer window.
Team Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Palestinian player(s) AFC player(s) Former players
Ahed Jordan Mohammad Abu Hasheesh Syria Mohammad Al Marmour Scotland Lee Erwin Syria Mohammad Al Hallak
Ahly Nabatieh Ghana Godfred Yeboah Nigeria Opaleye Brown Nigeria Ifeanyi Eze Senegal Baye Daour Badji —
Ansar Mali Yacouba Doumbia Belgium Foudil Bouchentouf Idriss Senegal Elhadji Malick Tall Tunisia Omar Zekri State of Palestine Mohamad Hebous
State of Palestine Hamza Hussein		 —
Bourj Syria Ahmad Al Saleh Tunisia Houssem Louati Ghana Prosper Donkor Senegal Tidiane Camara —
Chabab Ghazieh Ghana Ezra Amelinsa Nigeria Joshua Abah Ivory Coast Chris-Calvin Nawatta State of Palestine Ayman Abou Sahyoun —
Nejmeh Portugal Gilson Costa Afghanistan Omid Popalzay Ukraine Dmytro Bilonoh Guinea-Bissau José Embaló State of Palestine Zaher Al Samahi
Racing Beirut Serbia Lazar Arsić Japan Shodai Tomemori State of Palestine Jehad Abou El Aynein —
Safa Netherlands Johan Kappelhof Germany Arnold Suew Netherlands Jordy Bruijn Germany Marco Reinhardt State of Palestine Adnan Salloum —
Sagesse Senegal Papa Sidibe Brazil Vinícius Calamari Senegal Boucounta Sarr Senegal Adramé Diallo —
Shabab Sahel Ghana Richard Baffour Nigeria Andrew Ikefe Nigeria Francis Nwankwo Senegal Fallou Galass Wade State of Palestine Hadi Dakwar —
Tadamon Sour Ghana Osman Konate Ghana Ibrahim Sauma Ghana Oussai Oddo State of Palestine Mohammad Ismail
State of Palestine Ghassan Sarriyeh
State of Palestine Jihad Hallak		 —
Tripoli Nigeria James Innocent Syria Sharif Sibaii Jordan Suleiman Abu Zam'a Brazil Gerônimo State of Palestine Omar Kayed
State of Palestine Ibrahim Abdelwahhab		 —

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
1 Nejmeh 11 9 1 1 25 11 +14 28[lower-alpha 2] Qualification for the AFC Challenge League
2 Ahed 11 9 1 1 31 6 +25 28[lower-alpha 2]
3 Bourj 11 6 3 2 17 11 +6 21
4 Ansar 11 5 5 1 20 13 +7 20
5 Safa 11 4 5 2 22 17 +5 17
6 Racing Beirut 11 3 6 2 19 19 0 15
7 Shabab Sahel 11 3 5 3 11 15 −4 14
8 Tripoli 11 3 3 5 11 13 −2 12
9 Sagesse 11 2 1 8 9 18 −9 7
10 Ahly Nabatieh 11 0 6 5 5 15 −10 6
11 Tadamon Sour 11 1 2 8 5 16 −11 5[lower-alpha 3] Relegation to Lebanese Second Division
12 Chabab Ghazieh 11 1 2 8 5 26 −21 5[lower-alpha 3]
Updated to match(es) played on 16 December 2023. Source: Global Sports Archive
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored; 6) Disciplinary points.
Notes:
  1. ↑ Teams play each other once (11 matches), before the league is split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six). Teams carry over half their point tally from the first phase into the second phase.
  2. 1 2 Head-to-head results: Ahed 1–2 Nejmeh
  3. 1 2 Head-to-head results: Tadamon Sour 2–0 Chabab Ghazieh

Season statistics

Hat-tricks

PlayerForAgainstResultDate
Netherlands Jordy BruijnSafaSagesse3–119 August 2023
Scotland Lee ErwinAhedShabab Sahel5–024 September 2023
Lebanon Mohamad KdouhSafaTadamon Sour4–14 November 2023

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Only used as a training ground

References

  1. ↑ "منافسة غير مسبوقة على لقب الدوري اللبناني لكرة القدم". www.alahednews.com.lb (in Arabic). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  2. 1 2 "بالصور: الاتحاد اللبناني يعلن تعديلات بالجملة". كووورة. 3 June 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  3. 1 2 "الاتحاد اللبناني يعلن عن قرارات حاسمة". كووورة. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  4. 1 2 84 ألف دولار دخل جديد للاتحاد اللبناني لكرة القدم [USD84,000: new income for the Lebanese Football Association]. Lebanon Football Guide (in Arabic). 19 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  5. ↑ Khaled, Nasser (26 July 2023). تقنية الفيديو حاضرة في لقاء العهد والراسينغ [Video technology will be present in the match between Ahed and Racing]. Kooora (in Arabic). Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 Abou Diab, Rami (25 June 2020). "The new regulations for the Lebanese Premier League". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  7. ↑ "هل يُمكن أن يُحسم اللقب قبل الدورة السداسية؟". lebanonfg.com. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  8. ↑ "AFC Executive Committee approves biggest prize purse in Asian club football history from 2024/25; announces AFC Women's Champions League". AFC. 14 August 2023.
  9. ↑ "AFC Club Competitions 2024/25 Slot Allocation" (PDF). Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  10. ↑ "2018/2019 Lebanese Premier League Squads confirmed". FA Lebanon. 21 September 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  11. ↑ "AFC Competitions Committee recommends strategic reforms to elevate Asian club football". the-AFC. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
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