The 2003–04 Iraqi Premier League kicked off on January 8, 2004. The name of the league was changed from ''Iraqi First Division League'' to ''Iraqi Premier League''. Due to security issues and scheduling difficulties, the season was officially cancelled in June 2004 during the group stage.
The top four teams from each group were meant to advance to the elite stage, where they would be split into two groups of eight teams each, with the top two from each group advancing to the semi-finals, which would be followed by a third place match and a final. The champions and runners-up would qualify for the
2005 AFC Champions League and the third and fourth-placed teams would qualify for the
2004–05 Arab Champions League.
As the league was not completed, 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) decided that a play-off would be held between the top four teams from the Central Groups to decide which two sides would qualify for the AFC Champions League, on the assumption that the leaders of the North and South Groups at the time of cancellation (
Erbil
Erbil (, ; , ), also called Hawler (, ), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is the capital of the Erbil Governorate.
Human settlement at Erbil may be dated back to the 5th millennium BC. At the h ...
and
Al-Najaf) would be able to take part in the Arab Champions League along with
Al-Talaba
Al-Talaba Sports Club () is an Iraqi professional sports club based in Al-Rusafa, Baghdad. Its football team competes in the Iraq Stars League, the top flight of Iraqi football. Founded in 1969, the club was named Al-Jamiea but became known a ...
, who were specially invited to compete.
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 ...
and
Al-Zawraa
Al-Zawra'a Sports Club () is an Iraqi professional sports club based in Utayfia, Karkh District (near Tigris River), Baghdad. Their football team competes in the Iraq Stars League, the top-flight of Iraqi football. Al-Zawra'a have won the most ...
were the teams to qualify to the AFC Champions League, but no teams were admitted to the Arab Champions League after Iraq withdrew from the tournament following
UAFA's decision to only let them have one participant in Al-Talaba.
Name changes
*
Al-Difaa Al-Jawi renamed to Al-Estiqlal.
Group stage at abandonment
North Group
Central Group 1
Central Group 2
South Group
Additional play-offs for AFC Champions League
''Al-Zawraa qualified for the
2005 AFC Champions League.''
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''Al-Shorta won 4–3 on aggregate and qualified for the
2005 AFC Champions League.''
Season statistics
Hat-tricks
References
External links
Iraq Football Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:2003-04 Iraqi Premier 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 ...