The 2012–13 Iraqi Elite League was the 39th season of the competition since its establishment in 1974. The season began on 19 October 2012 and finished on 4 September 2013.

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 ...

were crowned champions for the third time, finishing on 72 points, two points ahead of nearest competitors

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 ...

. Having only managed a seventh-place finish in the previous season, Al-Shorta's results improved significantly under the presidency of Ayad Bunyan and they were able to outperform favourites

Duhok Duhok (; ; , ) is a city in Kurdistan Region, Iraq. It is the capital city of Duhok Governorate. Name The city of Duhok received its name from the Kurdish words ’du’ (two) and ’hok’ (lump) as a tax payment of two lumps from the baske ...

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 ...

and

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya () is an Iraqi sports club based in Al-Rusafa, Iraq, Rusafa District, Baghdad that competes in the Iraq Stars League, the top-flight of Football in Iraq, Iraqi football. Founded in 1931, it is the oldest existing club in Iraq. ...

. On the final day of the season, three teams were all still in the race for the title. Al-Shorta needed a win against

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 ...

to secure the league, whilst Erbil had to defeat Al-Najaf and hope that Al-Shorta failed to win their game if they wanted to retain their title. Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya needed both Al-Shorta and Erbil to slip up and needed to defeat Masafi Al-Wasat by a large goal margin in order for them to go home with the trophy. All three teams ended up winning their respective matches, making Al-Shorta the champions. It was the club's first league title since the 1997–98 season.

SWAT incident

On 23 June 2013, after a match with

, seven football players of

Karbala Karbala is a major city in central Iraq. It is the capital of Karbala Governorate. With an estimated population of 691,100 people in 2024, Karbala is the second largest city in central Iraq, after Baghdad. The city is located about southwest ...

and their manager were beaten by the anti-terror police. They used sticks and batons against the eight men. Five of them were in critical condition, and on June 30, Mohammed Abbas Al-Jabouri, the club's manager, died in hospital. Several teams refused to play their matches in round 25 as a result of the incident.

League table

Results

Season statistics

Top scorers

Hat-tricks

;Notes ⁴ Player scored 4 goals

Media coverage

References

External links

Iraq Football Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:2012-13 Iraqi Elite 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 ...