The Syrian Premier League ( ar, الدوري السوري الممتاز) is a professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

league in Syria and the top division in of the Syrian football league system. The league comprises 12 teams and operates on a system of

promotion and relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues ...

with the Syrian League 1st Division. The Syrian Premier League was founded in 1966, unifying the local leagues that had existed previously. Seasons mostly run from August to May. The first team to win the title was

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad (Arabic: الاتحاد "The Union"), sometimes transliterated as Al-Etihad or Al-Ettihad may refer to: Sports Football Libya *Al-Ittihad Club (Tripoli), a football club based in Bab Ben Gashier * Al Ittihad Gheryan, a football club bas ...

in 1967, whilst

Al-Jaish Al Jaish is Arabic for army, and may refer to: * Tala'ea El Gaish SC, a football club based in Cairo, Egypt * Al-Jaish FC (Iraq), a football club based in Baghdad, Iraq * Al-Jaish SC (Syria), a football club based in Damascus, Syria * El Jaish SC, ...

has the record with 17 league titles. Their closest rivals, Al-Karamah, have won the league 8 times. In the beginning, the main tournament was the first division, then the SFA developed the competition in a historic step that allowed the participation of foreign players to turn the competition into a professional league.

Competition format

Competition

From the 2022–23 season, there are 12 clubs in the Premier League, instead of the previous 14. During the course of a season (usually from August or September to May) each club plays the others twice (a double round-robin system), once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents; for 22 games. Teams receive

three points for a win Three points for a win is a standard used in many sports leagues and group tournaments, especially in association football, in which three points are awarded to the team winning a match, with no points awarded to the losing team. If the game is ...

and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are

ranked A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of ...

by total points, then goal difference, and then goals scored. If still equal, teams are deemed to occupy the same position. If there is a tie for the championship, for relegation, or for qualification to other competitions, a play-off match at a neutral venue decides rank.

Promotion and relegation

A system of

exists between the Syrian Premier League and the Syrian League 1st Division. The two lowest placed teams in Premier League are relegated to the League 1st Division, and the top two teams from the League 1st Division are promoted to the Premier League.

Number of teams

Qualification for Asian competitions

As of 7 December 2021

Qualification criteria for 2022

At present, the winners of Syrian Premier League qualify for the AFC Champions League play-off, and the league runners-up qualify for the AFC Cup group stage alongside the winners of

Syrian Cup The Syrian Cup ( ar, سوريا) is Syria's premier knockout Cup tournament in men's football. It was first contested in 1959. Al-Ittihad SC has won the competition on 10 occasions. The final was first played in the 1960-61 season during the UAR ...

. If the cup winners are also the league winners or runners-up, the third-placed team in the league qualifies for the AFC Cup group stage. The winners of the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup may earn an additional qualification for the subsequent season's AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs if they have not already qualified. The number of places allocated to the Syrian clubs in AFC competitions is dependent upon the position the country holds in the

AFC Club Competitions Ranking The AFC Club Competitions Ranking is a ranking system launched by the AFC in 2014. The ranking is based on the results of teams participating in the last four years of the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup. The ranking is used for determine slot ...

, which is calculated based upon the performance of teams in AFC competitions in the previous four years.

Current clubs (2022–23)

Stadiums and locations

1: Al-Karamah and Al-Wathba also use Bassel al-Assad Stadium (25,000 seats) as a home stadium.

List of seasons

Champions so far are:

Performances

Performance by club

Performance by city

Doubles

Five teams have won the

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

of the Syrian Premier League and the

in the same season.

Records and statistics

All seasons top goalscorers

All time top goalscorers

''Last updated 17 December 2021'' Boldface indicates a player still active in Syrian Premier League.

League participation

As of 2022, 35 clubs have participated. The tallies since its establishment in 1966 until the end of the 2021–22 season. * 50 seasons:

Al-Ittihad SC Aleppo Al-Ittihad Sports Club of Aleppo ( ar, نادي الاتحاد الرياضي الحلبي) is a professional multi-sports club based in the Syrian city of Aleppo, mostly known for its football team which competes in the Syrian Premier League, ...

Records

*During 50 seasons, 10 teams won the league championship. *35 clubs have played in the league over the past 50 seasons, and the latest to join is Al-Horgela. *Al-Ittihad is the only club that has not missed out on participating in all editions of the tournament. *Al-Karama Club is the first team in the Syrian League to win the league championship 4 times in a row. *Al-Jaish team became the team that won the league championship 5 times in a row, as it managed to achieve the title seasons (2014-2015-2016-2017-2018). *The highest points average for the league champion: 64 points (Al-Karamah, 2007–2008 season). *The fastest goal in the history of the league was scored by Al-Majd player Samer Awad against Qardaha, the 2005-2006 season, after just 16 seconds. *The biggest goal difference in a single match was in the 1976-1977 season, when Al-Ittihad defeated Al-Nasr 14-0. *Coach Rifaat Al-Shamali holds the record for the longest training period, after training for Jableh SC for 17 consecutive seasons. *The only coach who won the league with two different clubs, is the late Zaki Natour with Al-Ittihad and Al-Shorta clubs. *The oldest player to participate in the league is Jamal Mao, at the age of 46 years with Al-Nidal Club. *The oldest player to score a goal in the league is Raed Kurdi at the age of 41, when he scored for his team Al-Jihad Club in 2018.