Football in Lebanon

Football in Lebanon
	The Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium during the Beirut derby in 2018
Country	Lebanon
Governing body	LFA
National team(s)	Lebanon
First played	1933
Clubs	190
National competitions
	Lebanese FA Cup; Lebanese Super Cup; Lebanese Elite Cup; Lebanese Challenge Cup
Club competitions
	Lebanese Premier League; Lebanese Second Division; Lebanese Third Division; Lebanese Fourth Division; Lebanese Fifth Division
International competitions
	AFC Cup; FIFA World Cup (National Team); Asian Cup (National Team); WAFF Championship (National Team)

Football is the most popular sport in Lebanon.[1][2][3][4] It was introduced to Lebanon in the early-20th century, becoming particularly popular among French soldiers in the local Christian community. The Lebanese Football Association (LFA) was formed in 1933 as one of the earliest administrative bodies for association football in the Middle East. The Lebanon national team made its unofficial debut in 1934 against Romanian club CA Timișoara (T.A.C.), while their first official FIFA game was in 1940 against Mandatory Palestine.

Armenian clubs such as Homenetmen and Homenmen led the early football scene between the 1940s and the 1960s; the civil war between 1975 and 1990 made it impossible to practice football in Lebanon. Ansar became the dominating force in the country between the 1990s and the early-2000s. In the 21st century, Ansar, Nejmeh, and Ahed (the latter in particular starting from the 2010s) formed a Lebanese "Big Three", winning the majority of the titles. Indeed, the country's most supported clubs are Ansar and Nejmeh,[5] with Ahed gaining popularity in recent years.[6]

While the Lebanon national team haven't won a major title internationally, in 2019 Ahed became the first Lebanese club to win the AFC Cup.

History

Birth of Lebanese football (1908–1940)

Sika Club Beirut at Beirut Municipal Stadium's inaugural match in 1935

Football made its debut in Lebanon in 1908, then a province of the Ottoman Empire. It was quickly adopted by the young Lebanese, and was particularly popular with students from the American University of Beirut (AUB). After the First World War, Greater Lebanon became a French protectorate under the mandate of the League of Nations. Football became very popular with French soldiers in the local Christian community.[7]

In 1931 Khalil Hilmi, a member of Al Riyadi Beirut, attempted to form a Federation.[8] However, the proposal failed as Al Nahda opposed the formation.[8] On 22 March 1933, representatives of thirteen football clubs gathered in the Minet El Hosn district in Beirut to form the Lebanese Football Association (LFA).[9] Hussein Sejaan was the LFA's first president.[10] Lebanon was one of the first nations in the Middle East to establish an administrative body for association football.[lower-alpha 1][11] The LFA joined FIFA in 1935 and the AFC in 1964.[12] In 2001, the LFA joined the WAFF as one of its founding members.[13]

The Lebanese Premier League began on May 1934, with Nahda winning the first title.[14] The first activity of the Lebanese national team began the same year. Beirut XI, representing Lebanon, played two games against CA Timișoara (T.A.C.) of Romania:[15][16] these unofficial matches are regarded as the national team's first.[17] The national team's first official FIFA game was a 5–1 loss to Mandatory Palestine on 27 April 1940,[18] with Camille Cordahi scoring Lebanon's first official international goal.[19]

Early history (1940–1999)

Lineup of the Lebanon national team at the 1966 Arab Nations Cup

Most clubs were born on the basis of sectarianism, such as Sagesse being a Christian club and Ansar having a Sunni fanbase.[20][21] A rivalry was established between Ansar and another Beirut club, Nejmeh. Dubbed the Beirut derby, the match has been considered the biggest club football match in Lebanon. Between the 1940s and 1960s, Armenian clubs, such as Homenetmen and Homenmen, were the most prominent in the early Lebanese footballing scene.[20] The two clubs shared 11 league titles in 16 seasons between 1943 and 1969.[14]

During the 1970s Lebanese football was at its peak, with Nejmeh even beating Ararat Yerevan, the USSR champions, in 1974.[7] In 1975, one week before the Lebanese Civil War, Brazilian player Pelé played a friendly game for Nejmeh against a team of Lebanese Premier League stars,[22] scoring two goals which were not included in his official tally.[23][24] On the day of the game, 40,000 spectators were at the stadium from early morning to watch the match.[22] From 1975 to 1990, the civil war made it impossible to practice football.[25] From 1988 to 1999 Ansar set a Guinness World Record by winning 11 consecutive national titles.

New millennium (2000–present)

Lebanon during the 2019 Asian Cup game against Saudi Arabia

Lebanon hosted the 2000 AFC Asian Cup, with the national team finishing last in the group with only two points.[26] From 2000, Nejmeh were the dominating force in Lebanon, winning five out of nine league titles until 2009. In 2005 they reached the final of the AFC Cup, becoming the first Lebanese side to do so.[27] However they lost to Al-Faisaly 4–2 on aggregate.[28] During the 2010s Ahed, who had only won one league title prior, won six league titles. In the 2010–11 season Ahed won the league, cup, Super Cup and Elite Cup, becoming the first team in Lebanon to accomplish both a treble and a quadruple.[29]

After winning the 2018–19 Lebanese Premier League Ahed became the three-time defending champions, a feat accomplished only one other time, by Ansar in 1992.[30] In 2018 the national team qualified for their first ever major tournament: the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. They won their first game in the tournament on 17 January 2019, against North Korea 4–1 in the group stage; however, they narrowly missed out on the knock-out stage on the fair play rule.[31] On 4 November 2019, Ahed became the first Lebanese side to win the AFC Cup after defeating April 25 in the 2019 final.[32] The LFA suspended operations on 21 January 2020 due to financial reasons amid the then-impending coronavirus pandemic; this resulted in the indefinite suspension of all football matches in Lebanon.[33] The season was officially cancelled on 28 May 2020.[34]

League system

Level	Divisions
1	Lebanese Premier League (One national division, 12 clubs)
2	Lebanese Second Division (One national division, 12 clubs)
3	Lebanese Third Division (3 groups, 8 clubs per group)
4	Lebanese Fourth Division Beirut (1 group, 7 clubs)	Lebanese Fourth Division North (3 groups, 8–9 clubs per group)		Lebanese Fourth Division South (3 groups, 8–9 clubs per group)	Lebanese Fourth Division Mount Lebanon (4 groups, 9 clubs per group)		Lebanese Fourth Division Bekaa (2 groups, 8–9 clubs per group)
5	Lebanese Fifth Division Beirut (1 group, 6 clubs)		Lebanese Fifth Division North (1 group, 5 clubs)			Lebanese Fifth Division South (2 groups, 6 clubs per group)

Cup competitions

The Lebanese FA Cup, first held in 1938, with Nahda winning the first title,[35] is the national domestic cup competition. Teams from the Lebanese Premier League, Lebanese Second Division and Lebanese Third Division are eligible to compete in the competition.
The Lebanese Super Cup, first held in 1996, is a single match played between the winners of the Lebanese Premier League and the Lebanese FA Cup.
The Lebanese Elite Cup, first held in 1996, is an annual cup competition contested by the top six teams of the previous Lebanese Premier League season.
The Lebanese Challenge Cup, first held in 2013, is an annual cup competition contested by the teams placed between 7th and 10th in the previous Lebanese Premier League season, and by the two promoted teams from the Lebanese Second Division.
The Lebanese Federation Cup (1999–2004) was the domestic League Cup, contested by all Lebanese Premier League teams. The competition was held only three times: in 1999, 2000 and 2004.

National team

The Lebanon national football team is coached by Liviu Ciobotariu,[36] and captained by Hassan Maatouk.[37] Lebanon hosted the 2000 AFC Asian Cup and were eliminated from the group stage.[3] They participated in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, winning their first game in the competition on 17 January 2019 against North Korea. However, they narrowly missed out on the knock-out stages by the fair-play rule.[38]

Women's football

Women's football in Lebanon isn't very popular; it is mainly played in the affluent areas of the country.[39] There is a great stigma attached to females playing football.[40][41] The Lebanese Women's Football League was founded in 2008, with Sadaka winning the first title.[42]

The women's national team came third the WAFF Women's Championship twice: in 2007 and in 2019.[43][44] In 2015, the women's under-17 team became the first Lebanese national football team to win a title, after being crowned 2015 Arab U-17 Women's Cup champions.[45] In 2019, Lebanon won both the WAFF U-15 Girls Championship and the WAFF U-18 Girls Championship.[45][46]

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