The 2002–03 Iraqi First Division was the 29th season of the competition since its establishment in 1974. Organised by the

Iraq Football Association The Iraq Football Association (IFA) ( ar, الاتحاد العراقي لكرة القدم) is the governing body of football in Iraq, controlling the Iraqi national team and the Iraqi Premier League. The Iraqi Football Association was founded ...

(IFA), the league's name was changed to ''Iraqi First Division'', and it started on 6 September 2002. 27 rounds of the league were played before the US-led invasion of Iraq began on 20 March 2003. Despite the outbreak of the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

, matches continued with free entry for spectators and games from rounds 28 and 29 were played in the midst of the conflict. The last matches were played on 28 March before the league stopped and

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

's government was overthrown, leading to the formation of a new IFA committee. 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 2003 Arab Unified Club Championship, officially named the 2003 Prince Faisal bin Fahd Tournament for Arab Clubs, was the 19th UAFA Club Cup, and the 2nd since the Arab Club Champions Cup and Arab Cup Winners' Cup were unified. The tournament began ...

. However, the IFA then announced on 30 May that

Al-Shorta Al-Shorta Sports Club ( ar, نادي الشرطة الرياضي, lit=''Police Sports Club'') is an Iraqi sports club based in Al-Rusafa, Baghdad. It has teams in 17 different sports, more than any other Iraqi club, and the best known sectio ...

had been chosen to participate as they were leading the league table at the end of round 27 before the outbreak of war. 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

2003 Iraqi Elite Cup The 2003 Baghdad Championship ( ar, بطولة بغداد 2003), commonly referred to as the 2003 Iraqi Elite Cup ( ar, كأس النخبة العراقي 2003), was the thirteenth occurrence of the Iraqi Elite Cup, organised by the Iraq Football ...

and the

2004 AFC Champions League The 2004 AFC Champions League was the 23rd edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament and the 2nd edition under the current AFC Champions League title. The title was won by Al-Ittihad over Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma. Format ;Group Stage ...

League table used to determine qualifications

Results

Season statistics

Hat-tricks

;Notes ⁴ Player scored 4 goals

References

External links

Iraq Football Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:2002-03 Iraqi Premier League Iraqi Premier League seasons 1

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...