Chad Premier League (french: Ligue Nationale de Football, also known as LINAFOOT) is a Chadian league for men's

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 ...

clubs. At the top of the Chadian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 12 clubs, it 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 Division 2. Unlike the 1st LINAFOOT edition (in 2015) organised as a full national championship and won by Gazelle FC, the last three editions were organized under the play-off formula. Since the inception of the Chad Premier League in 1988, eight clubs have won the title:

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

(7), Elect-Sport (6),

Tourbillon In horology, a tourbillon (; "whirlwind") is an addition to the mechanics of a watch escapement to increase accuracy. It was developed around 1795 and patented by the Swiss-French watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet on June 26, 1801. In a tourbill ...

(5),

Gazelle A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . This article also deals with the seven species included in two further genera, '' Eudorcas'' and '' Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third ...

(4),

Foullah Edifice Foullah Edifice Football Club is a football (soccer) club from Chad based in N'Djamena. They had a few Chadian national team players, like Mbaya Brice, Massama Asselmo, Ferdinand Gassina and Hassan Hissein. The club's colours are sky blue an ...

(3),

AS CotonTchad Association Sportive CotonTchad is a football club from Chad based in N'Djamena. History ASCOT won national championship 2 times; in 1996 and 1998. The club also won national cup three times; in 1995, 1999 and 2009. ASCOT represented Chad i ...

(2),

Postel 2000 Postel 2000 FC is a football (soccer) club from Chad based in N'Djamena. The club was national ligue champion 2 times, in 1993 and 1995. Achievements *Chad Premier League : 2 :: 1993, 1995. *Chad Cup: 1 :: 1991. * Coupe de Ligue de N'Djaména ...

(2), Renaissance (Abéché) (2). The current champions are

, who won the title in 2020.

History

Chadian football has always been followed by the financial difficulties, making it hard to organise the competitions. For years, the main resource was the aid of one million dollars every four years by the FIFA. This aid was completely being engulfed in the organization of national and regional competitions. The national championship was being played in two stages. The first stage was the regional championship with teams from the same prefecture. The second stage was national championship, a sort of tournament between the 14 champions of the 14 prefectures. The format of competition and a number of teams, however, was being changed from time to time. From season 2010 to 2014 the first division consisted of clubs from N'Djamena only. Championship is being played over a short time, usually within a week and held alongside the national cup. The leagues run over a whole year.

Recent history

The season 2010 was the first one (out of five) to include the teams from N'Djamena only. The league was called ''Ligue de N'Djamena'', too. The participating teams were: ASCOT, DGSSIE, Elect-sport, Foullah, Gazelle, Postel 2000, RFC, Toumai, Tourbillon and USM. Tourbillon FC were the champions with 38 points, 4 more than league runners-up Gazelle FC. The last placed team (USM) was relegated to D2, while the 9th team (Postel 2000) played relegation playoff. Postel 2000 played against D2 runner-up, Saccoger, and won 1–0, so both teams remained at previous level. Season 2011 was the second one to include teams from N'Djamena only. The participating teams were: ASCOT, DGSSIE, Elect-sport, Foullah, Gazelle, Geyser, Postel 2000, RFC, Toumai and Tourbillon. Foullah Edifice were the champions with 43 points, 8 more than league runners-up Tourbillon. The last placed team (Geyser) was relegated to D2, while the 9th team (Toumai) played relegation playoff. Toumai stayed in the league, however they did not enter the 2012 season, so the next league edition had 9 teams only. The participating teams in 2012 were: ASCOT, DGSSIE, Elect-sport, Foullah, Gazelle, GGMIA, Postel 2000, RFC and Tourbillon. Gazelle were league champions; GGMIA were relegated to D2. The participating teams in 2013 were: ASCOT, DGSSIE, Elect-sport, Farcha, Foullah, Gazelle, Postel 2000, RFC, Tourbillon and USM. Foullah were 2013 league champions; USM were relegated to D2. The participating teams in 2014 were: ASCOT, DGSSIE, Eglise 12, Elect-sport, Farcha, Foullah, Gazelle, Postel 2000, RFC and Tourbillon. Foullah were 2014 league champions; DGSSIE, Eglise 12, Farcha, Postel 2000 and Tourbillon were relegated to D2.

LINAFOOT

From season 2015, national league system went through many changes. LINAFOOT started operating the league. The new system of 12 clubs from all over the country was introduced as well. Clubs that played in the first division were: AS Lycod Doba,

AS Mirim Mongo As, AS, A. S., A/S or similar may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * A. S. Byatt (born 1936), English critic, novelist, poet and short story writer * "As" (song), by Stevie Wonder * , a Spanish sports newspaper * , an academic male voice ...

AS Wadi Fira As, AS, A. S., A/S or similar may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * A. S. Byatt (born 1936), English critic, novelist, poet and short story writer * "As" (song), by Stevie Wonder * , a Spanish sports newspaper * , an academic male voice ...

ASCOT Moundou Ascot, Ascott or Askot may refer to: Places Australia * Ascot, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane * Ascot, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a locality * Ascot Park, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide * Ascot (Ballarat), town near Ballarat in Victori ...

Elect-Sport FC Elect-Sport FC is a football (soccer) club from Chad based in N'Djamena. It plays its home matches on Stade Omnisports Idriss Mahamat Ouya in N'Djamena. The club's colours are traditionally yellow and black. History The club has won national ...

, FC Kebbi,

Foullah Edifice FC Foullah Edifice Football Club is a football (soccer) club from Chad based in N'Djamena. They had a few Chadian national team players, like Mbaya Brice, Massama Asselmo, Ferdinand Gassina and Hassan Hissein. The club's colours are sky blue an ...

Gazelle FC Gazelle FC is a football club from Chad based in N'Djamena. The club currently play in the Chad Premier League, the top flight of Chadian football. Gazelle FC was founded on May 16, 1972 in the capital city of N'Djamena. The club has won four ...

, Renaissance FC,

Renaissance FC (Abéché) Renaissance FC or RFC is a football (soccer) club from Chad based in N'Djamena. The club won Chad Premier League 7 times, last time in 2007. Recently, it produced a few Chad national football team players, such as Mondésir Alladjim, Yaya Keri ...

AS Kokaga As, AS, A. S., A/S or similar may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * A. S. Byatt (born 1936), English critic, novelist, poet and short story writer * "As" (song), by Stevie Wonder * , a Spanish sports newspaper * , an academic male voice ...

. Gazelle FC won the championship. This edition of LINAFOOT was marked by many controversies, which led to proclaiming

league champion, and then later giving Gazelle FC champion title back. In season 2016 championship was interrupted after only 5 rounds, and no Chadian clubs represented the country in continental competitions. Following financial difficulties and the lack of sponsors, FTFA decided to implement the new format of the national championship, which would lower the costs. In 2017 FIFA proposed to FTFA a new championship format, which FTFA accepted. The new formula of the national football championship takes place in two phases. The first phase is called a zonal phase, and consists of three zones. Zone 1 consists of six clubs from

N'Djamena N'Djamena ( ) is the capital and largest city of Chad. It is also a special statute region, divided into 10 districts or ''arrondissements''. The city serves as the centre of economic activity in Chad. Meat, fish and cotton processing are the c ...

(RFC, Gazelle, Tourbillon, Elect-Sport, Foullah Ediffice and Ascot), Zone 2 consists of the clubs from Sarh, Koumra, Doba,

Moundou Moundou () is the second largest city in Chad and is the capital of the region of Logone Occidental. The city lies on the Mbéré River (a tributary of the Western Logone) some 475 kilometres south of the capital N'Djamena. It is the main cit ...

, Pala and

Bongor Bongor ( ar, بونقور) is a city in Chad, the capital of the region of Mayo-Kebbi Est. It is located on the eastern bank of the Logone River. During the rainy season (May–September), the Logone is navigable between Bongor and N'Djamena, Cha ...

, Zone 3 includes the clubs of

Moussoro Moussoro ( ar, موسورو) is a town in Chad, lying northeast of N'Djamena on the road to Faya-Largeau. An important transportation centre, it lies in a dry river bed and as a result has more vegetation than is typical in the area. Moussoro i ...

Ati Ati or ATI may refer to: * Ati people, a Negrito ethnic group in the Philippines **Ati language (Philippines), the language spoken by this people group ** Ati-Atihan festival, an annual celebration held in the Philippines *Ati language (China), a ...

, Biltine,

Mongo Mongo may refer to: Geography Africa * Mongo, Chad, a Sahel city * Apostolic Vicariate of Mongo (Roman Catholic missionary jurisdiction) * Mongo, Sierra Leone, a chiefdom * Mongo River (Little Scarces River), Guinea and Sierra Leone, a tributar ...

, Salamat and

Abéché Abéché ( ar, أبشه, ''Absha'') is the fourth largest city in Chad and is the capital of Ouaddaï Region. It has within it the remnants of the ancient capital, including palaces, mosques, and the tombs of former sultans. History The city o ...

. At the end of the zonal confrontations, three clubs in Zone 2 and Zone 3 will join the 4 qualifiers in Zone 1 to start the second phase of the championship. The 5th and 6th of the final ranking will be officially relegated to lower division.

Previous winners

Champions were: *1988 :

(N'Djamena) *1989 : Renaissance FC (N'Djamena) *1990 :

(N'Djamena) *1991 :

Tourbillon FC Tourbillon FC is a football (soccer) club from Chad based in N'Djamena. The club has won Chad Premier League title 6 times. The club plays home matches on Stade Omnisports Idriss Mahamat Ouya.Mohammad Reza Laghaei (DJ Tourbillon)is an Iranian en ...

(N'Djamena) *1992 :

(N'Djamena) *1993 : Postel 2000 FC (N'Djamena) *1994 : Renaissance FC (Abéché) *1995 : Postel 2000 FC (N'Djamena) *1996 :

(N'Djamena) *1997 :

(N'Djamena) *1998 :

(N'Djamena) *1999 : Renaissance FC (Abéché) *2000 :

(N'Djamena) *2001 :

(N'Djamena) *2002 : Renaissance FC (N'Djamena) *2003 : Renaissance FC (N'Djamena) *2004 : Renaissance FC (N'Djamena) *2005 : Renaissance FC (N'Djamena) *2006 : Renaissance FC (N'Djamena) *2007 : Renaissance FC (N'Djamena) *2008 :

(N'Djamena) * 2009 :

(N'Djamena) * 2010 :

(Ligue de N'Djaména champion) * 2011 :

(Ligue de N'Djaména champion) *2012 :

(Ligue de N'Djaména champion) *2013 :

(Ligue de N'Djaména champion) *2014 :

(Ligue de N'Djaména champion) * 2015 :

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

: No champion (championship interrupted due financial difficulties) *

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

: abandoned *

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

(N'Djamena) *

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

(N'Djamena) *

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

*2021: Not played *

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

(N'Djamena)

Performance By Club

Competition format

Competition

Since its formation, the league went through many changes in its system and number of participating clubs. In 2015 season (from February to August) each club played the others twice (a double round-robin system), once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 22 games. In 2016, it was originally planned that 16 clubs participate in the league. The championship was, however, interrupted due financial difficulties. In 2017 FIFA proposed to FTFA a new championship format, which FTFA accepted. The new formula of the national football championship takes place in two phases. The first phase is called a zonal phase, and consists of three zones. Zone 1 consists of six clubs from

(RFC, Gazelle, Tourbillon, Elect-Sport, Foullah Ediffice and Ascot), Zone 2 consists of the clubs from Sarh, Koumra, Doba,

, Pala and

, Zone 3 includes the clubs of

, Biltine,

, Salamat and

. At the end of the zonal confrontations, three clubs in Zone 2 and Zone 3 will join the 4 qualifiers in Zone 1 to start the second phase of the championship. 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. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned champion.

Qualification for African competitions

The national champion enters the Champions League preliminary round, while cup winner enters Confederation Cup Preliminary round. CAF Champions League is open to the winners of all CAF-affiliated national leagues. From the 2004 competition the runner-up of the league of the 12 highest-ranked countries also entered the tournament creating a 64-team field. The 12 countries would be ranked on the performance of their clubs in the previous 5 years. As Chad is not among the best 12 countries, it has only one spot in this competition. From the top twelve placed CAF member associations, the winner of the domestic cup and the third placed club in the domestic league of the considered associations, are eligible to participate in the CAF Confederation Cup, while only domestic cup winners from member associations ranked from 13 till 55 are eligible to participate in the competition. As Chad is not among the 12 best placed countries, it has only one spot in this competition.

Premier League clubs in international competition

Chadian clubs started to participate in African competitions in 1990, with RFC N'Djamena being the first Chadian club to enter the African Cup of Champions Clubs. Chadian clubs have never won either Champions League or Confederations Cup. The best result they have achieved was first round of Champions League (RFC N'Djamena in 1990, Elect-Sport in 1991, POSTEL 2000 in 1996, ASCOT N'Djamena in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, Tourbillon in 1992,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

and 2002, Gazelle in 2010).

Sponsorship

In July 2014 it was announced that mobile operator

Airtel Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as (d/b/a) Airtel, is an Indian multinational telecommunications services company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. Current ...

signed a deal with FTFA and became its official sponsor. The goal was improving the football in Chad. Airtel has already signed deals with a lot of African football federations.

Finances

''Le Fonds National de Développement du Sport (FNDS)'' is the fond for the development of sports in Chad. It finances national football league among the others. For the season 2014, the ''FNDS'' marked off 300 million FCFA. Chadian league faced many financial problems during the years. The national league was interrupted a few times because of this. Season 2015 was suspended for financial reasons, but it resumed after 2 and a half months, after some amount of money was paid by Federation.

Clubs

The following 6 clubs are competing in the Premier League during the 2016 season:

Clubs 2016

(

) *

(

) *

(

) *

(

) * Renaissance FC (

) *

(

)

Stadiums

Five clubs (ASCOT, Elect, Foullah, Gazelle, RFC) play on the same stadium, '' Stade Omnisports Idriss Mahamat Ouya'', also named ''Stade Nacional'', located in

. The stadium holds 20,000 people, and has artificial grass. It is also the home ground of the

Chad national football team The Chad national football team ( ar, منتخب تشاد لكرة القدم, french: Équipe du Tchad de football), nicknamed ''Sao'' ( ar, ساو), represents Chad in international football and is controlled by the Chadian Football Federati ...

. It is named after former Chadian highjumper

Mahamat Idriss Mahamat Idriss (ne ''Koundja Ouya'', 17 July 1942 – 3 October 1987) was a Chadian high jumper. He was born in Fort-Lamy, Chad, French Equatorial Africa. Career Before the Chadian independency on 11 August 1960 he competed for France, winning th ...

(1942—1987). ASCOT Moundou plays its home games on '' Stade de Moundou''. The stadium holds 10,000 people. RFC Abéché plays its home games on '' Stade de Abéché'' (capacity 5,000), while Lycod de Doba plays its home games on '' Stade Omnisports de Doba'' (capacity 8,000; built in 2008). Mirim Mongo plays on '' Stade Idriss Miskine''. AS Kokaga Sarh plays on '' Stade Omnisport de Begou''.