The 2002–03 Iraqi First Division League was the 29th season of the top-tier Iraqi national football league since its establishment in 1974. Organised by the

Iraq Football Association The Iraq Football Association (IFA) () is the governing body of football in Iraq, controlling the Iraq national football team, Iraqi national team and the Iraqi football league system. The Iraqi Football Association was founded in 1948 and has be ...

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

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

, 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 (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

'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 bega ...

. However, the IFA then announced on 30 May that

Al-Shorta Al-Shorta Sports Club () is an Iraqi sports club based in Al-Rusafa, Iraq, Al-Rusafa, Baghdad. It has teams in 19 different sports, and the best known section of the club is the football team, whose origins date back to 1932. Al-Shorta was for ...

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 Baghdad Championship and the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

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 First Division League Iraq Stars League seasons 1

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...