2002–03 Iraqi First Division

The 2002–03 Iraqi First Division was the 29th season of the competition since its establishment in 1974. The name of the league was changed from Iraqi Elite League to Iraqi First Division, and the season began on 6 September 2002.

Iraqi Premier League
Season2002–03
ChampionsAl-Shorta
(3rd title)
2003 Arab Unified Club ChampionshipAl-Shorta
2004 AFC Champions LeagueAl-Shorta
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
2003–04 Arab Champions LeagueAl-Talaba
Al-Zawraa
Top goalscorerHusham Mohammed
(22 goals)

The Iraq War broke out on 20 March 2003, but matches continued to be played up to and including round 29 until the Iraq Football Association (IFA) brought the competition to an end due to the war. At that point, Al-Shorta were leading the league with 68 points, while Al-Talaba were second, Al-Zawraa were third and Al-Najaf were fourth.[1][2][3]

Although a number of journalists recorded that the season had been considered null and void,[4][5][6][7][8] several notable sources disputed this and reported that Al-Shorta had won,[9][10][11][12][13] with the league being ended at round 27 by the IFA, which was the last round that had started before the outbreak of war.[14]

On 14 October 2003, IFA secretary Jamal Burhanuddin confirmed the latter to be the case, stating that Al-Najaf finished in second place behind Al-Shorta who won first place with 65 points.[15] This was Al-Shorta's third league win, having also won first place in 1979–80 and 1997–98.[16]

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Al-Shorta (C) 27 20 5 2 61 23 +38 65
2004 AFC Champions League
2003 Arab Unified Club Championship
2 Al-Najaf 27 19 6 2 44 12 +32 63
3 Al-Talaba 26 19 4 3 56 15 +41 61 2003–04 Arab Champions League
4 Al-Zawraa 27 17 8 2 59 16 +43 59
5 Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 27 17 4 6 49 30 +19 55 2004 AFC Champions League[lower-alpha 1]
6 Al-Minaa 27 14 3 10 30 23 +7 45
7 Al-Mosul 27 11 5 11 33 42 −9 38
8 Erbil 27 10 7 10 44 33 +11 37
9 Al-Karkh 27 9 10 8 29 21 +8 37
10 Zakho 27 9 9 9 36 27 +9 36
11 Duhok 27 9 7 11 30 40 −10 34
12 Al-Difaa Al-Jawi 27 7 8 12 27 37 −10 29
13 Samaraa 26 7 7 12 26 38 −12 28
14 Al-Nasiriya 27 7 6 14 27 55 −28 27
15 Al-Jaish 27 6 8 13 26 42 −16 26
16 Al-Sinaa 27 4 12 11 17 29 −12 24
17 Al-Naft 27 4 10 13 21 37 −16 22
18 Al-Samawa 27 5 7 15 22 52 −30 22
19 Kirkuk 27 2 9 16 14 48 −34 15
20 Al-Basra 27 3 5 19 14 45 −31 14
Source: Korat Kadem Al-Iraq
(C) Champion.
Notes:
  1. The IFA planned to admit second-placed Al-Najaf into the 2004 AFC Champions League, as confirmed by IFA secretary Jamal Burhanuddin.[15] However, Al-Najaf did not participate and the slot went to Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, the next highest-placed team in the league that had not already been admitted into a continental competition for the 2003–04 season.

Results

Home and away status of matches not reflected in the table below.

Home \ Away BSR DIF JSH KAR MIN MSL NFT NJF NAS QWJ SMA SHR SIN TLB ZWR DUH ERB KIR SMR ZAK
Al-Basra 0–0 2–1 0–1 0–0 0–1 0–1 2–3 2–2 0–1 –[lower-alpha 1] 1–0 1–1 0–0
Al-Difaa Al-Jawi 1–0 0–4 0–1 2–0 1–2 2–2 3–2 1–1 1–0 0–4 1–1 –[lower-alpha 1] 1–2 0–0
Al-Jaish 1–0 1–1 1–0 2–2 1–2 1–1 4–1 –[lower-alpha 1] 1–1 0–0 –[lower-alpha 1] 1–1
Al-Karkh 0–2 2–0 1–0 –[lower-alpha 1] 0–0 0–0 5–0 1–1 6–1 0–0 0–5 1–2 1–0 1–0 0–0 1–1
Al-Minaa 2–0 1–0 2–1 1–0 4–1 0–0 1–2 2–0 3–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 4–1 1–0
Al-Mosul 2–0 0–0 1–3 1–0 1–0 2–2 2–1 2–1 0–1 3–1 1–1 1–0 1–4 2–1 1–2 3–1 4–1 2–1 1–0
Al-Naft 1–0 0–1 1–2 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–1 0–1 1–5 3–0 1–1 1–2
Al-Najaf 5–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 3–0 3–0 1–0 4–0 2–1 2–1 0–0 3–1 2–0
Al-Nasiriya 2–0 0–4 0–0 1–0 1–2 0–1 0–5 0–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–1 1–0 1–0
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 3–2 2–0 2–1 3–1 2–1 4–0 –[lower-alpha 1] 3–1 3–2 1–0 1–1 3–0 2–1 3–0
Al-Samawa 1–1 3–2 0–1 0–1 0–0 0–1 1–4 1–1 0–3 0–1 2–2 0–0 1–0
Al-Shorta 4–1 –[lower-alpha 1] 1–0 3–1 1–0 2–0 1–1 5–1 3–2 3–0 2–0 1–0 8–0 3–0 2–0 3–2
Al-Sinaa 1–0 1–0 0–2 2–3 1–1 1–1 1–2 0–1 0–0 3–2 0–0
Al-Talaba 3–1 3–0 5–0 1–1 3–2 2–1 0–0 4–1 1–0 –[lower-alpha 1] 2–0 0–0 1–1 2–1 4–0 0–1
Al-Zawraa 4–0 4–2 6–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 5–0 5–0 1–1 0–0 2–0 5–1 –[lower-alpha 1] 4–0
Duhok 1–0 1–2 1–1 4–1 1–0 0–3 0–0 3–2 0–1 1–0 2–0 4–1 1–1
Erbil 3–0 3–2 0–0 5–0 1–0 1–2 1–2 0–3 0–0 1–3 1–1 1–1 6–1 4–0 2–1
Kirkuk 0–1 2–2 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–1 0–1 1–1 1–2 1–4 0–1 2–1 0–1
Samaraa 0–0 2–1 1–1 1–2 3–1 0–2 0–2 0–1 1–1 1–2 4–1 1–0
Zakho 2–0 1–0 4–1 2–0 1–2 6–1 3–0 1–1 2–3 4–0 1–2 1–1 1–3 0–0 0–0
Source: Korat Kadem Al-Iraq
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. Match results from rounds 28 and 29 were annulled, including the following results:
    • Al-Basra 1–1 Al-Zawraa
    • Al-Jaish 1–1 Samaraa
    • Al-Karkh 2–1 Al-Mosul
    • Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 1–0 Al-Najaf
    • Al-Shorta 6–3 Al-Difaa Al-Jawi
    • Al-Talaba 3–0 Al-Samawa
    • Al-Difaa Al-Jawi 7–2 Kirkuk
    • Al-Jaish 0–0 Al-Sinaa
    • Al-Zawraa 11–1 Samaraa

Top goalscorers
Pos Scorer Goals Team
1 Husham Mohammed 22 Al-Zawraa
2 Ahmad Mnajed 19 Al-Shorta
3 Younis Mahmoud 13 Al-Talaba
Fawaz Yahya Hamodat Al-Mosul
Hamid Qasim Erbil
gollark: I'm using a surprisingly good for the price HDMI capture card to transmit apio forms out of the pi.
gollark: Yeeees.
gollark: Yes, the cable is too long or something.
gollark: osmarks.tk™ has highly advanced apiotech.
gollark: Troubling.

References
  1. "Un hijo de Sadam pide que la Liga de fútbol iraquí continúe pese a la guerra". El País. 28 March 2003.
  2. Kitz, Sami (28 March 2003). "القنابل الاميركية لم تحل دون استمرار الدوري العراقي". MEO News.
  3. Al-Tuwaijri, Abdul-Aziz (3 April 2003). "استمرار منافسات الدوري العراقي رغم الحرب يثير استغراب المراقبين". Asharq Al-Awsat.
  4. Al-Sabti, Ali (2014). Iraqi League History 1974-2011. Iraq. pp. 395–407.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  5. Al-Munshi, Dr.Dhia (2005). Iraqi Football Encyclopedia: Chico.. Jamoli… and football in Iraq. Citadel Printing & Design, Al-Saadoun, Baghdad.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  6. "League season 2002-03" (in Arabic). Niiiis.
  7. "Iraqi League Champions". Goalzz.
  8. "Iraqi League 2002-03". RSSSF.
  9. "Talaba lift delayed Iraq Cup". Asian Football Confederation. 26 August 2003. Archived from the original on 28 August 2003.
  10. "Iraqi League football is back". Iraq Sport. 10 January 2004. Archived from the original on 10 April 2004. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  11. "Football fever returns to Iraq". BBC. 16 May 2003.
  12. "Fans cheer return of exiled star". ESPN. 16 May 2003. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  13. "Officials: Ban on Baathists delays Iraqi government". CNN. 19 May 2003.
  14. Jassim, Khalid (9 September 2003). "اتحاد الكرة العراقي: بطولة بغداد بديلة لـ«أم المعارك»". Asharq Al-Awsat.
  15. "النجف على وشك المشاركه ببطوله ابطال آسيا". 14 October 2003.
  16. "Al Shorta claim sixth Iraqi Premier League title". Asian Football Confederation. 15 July 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.