2020–21 Lebanese Premier League
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The 2020–21 Lebanese Premier League was the 59th season of the
Lebanese Premier League The Lebanese First Division (), commonly known as the Lebanese Premier League (), is the top division of the Lebanese football league system. Established in 1934 and organized by the Lebanese Football Association (LFA), the Lebanese Premier Leagu ...
, the top Lebanese professional league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1934. The league was initially scheduled to start on 18 September, before being postponed to 3 October as part of preventive measures by the state towards the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. It was the first season to feature a "split" format, in which the season was divided into two phases. In the first phase, each club played against each other once, for a total of 11 matchdays. In the second phase, the league was split into two halves – the "top six" and the "bottom six". Points were carried over from the first phase, and each club played five games within its own half. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all games in the season were played behind closed doors. Since the 2019–20 season was cancelled, Ahed were the three-time defending champions, having won their 7th title in the 2018–19 season. Ansar won their 14th Lebanese Premier League title, their first since 2007, beating Nejmeh in the
Beirut derby The Beirut derby () is the name given in football to any match between cross-city rivals Ansar and Nejmeh. The derby has historically been the most anticipated game in Lebanon: both located in Beirut, Nejmeh and Ansar have shared the majority ...
2–1 in the final matchday.


Summary


Regulations

On 24 June 2020, a player quota for the season was announced. Each club had to involve one player under the age of 22 for at least 600 minutes, two players for at least 800 combined minutes, and three players for at least 1,200 combined minutes. Also, each club was allowed a maximum of eight players over the age of 30, with only five being able to be fielded in a game. In case a club were to not meet the required number of minutes at the end of the season, they would have had three points deducted from their total in the league. Due to the economic situation in Lebanon, other regulations were introduced, namely the abolition of foreign players in the league.


Format

The 2020–21 season consisted of two phases: in the first phase, each team played against one another once. In the second phase, the 12 teams were divided into two groups based on their position in the first phase; the teams carried over their point tally from the first phase. After the first phase was completed, clubs could not move out of their own half in the league, even if they achieved more or fewer points than a higher or lower ranked team, respectively. The top six teams played against each other once, with the champion automatically qualifying to the 2022 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs—assuming they met the criteria set by the
Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation ( ...
(AFC). The runners-up instead directly qualified to the 2022 AFC Cup group stage—as long as the champions met the AFC criteria for the AFC Champions League. The bottom six teams also played against each other once, with the bottom two teams being relegated to the
Lebanese Second Division The Lebanese Second Division () is the second division of Lebanese football. Established in 1933, it is controlled by the Lebanese Football Association. The 12 teams that participate in the league play each other twice, once at home and once awa ...
.


Teams

Twelve teams competed in the league – the top ten teams from the 2018–19 Lebanese Premier League season and the two teams promoted from the Second Division. Due to the 2019–20 season being cancelled, the same 12 teams participated in the 2020–21 season.


Stadiums and locations

:''Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.''


League table


Results


Matches 1–11

Teams play each other once.


Matches 12–16

After 11 matches, the league splits into two sections of six teams i.e. the top six and the bottom six, with the teams playing every other team in their section once.


Top six


Bottom six


Season statistics


Scoring


Top goalscorers


Hat-tricks


Clean sheets


Discipline


Player

* Most yellow cards: 8 ** Jihad Ayoub (Ansar) ** Zouhair Abdallah (Shabab Sahel) * Most red cards: 1 ** Yasser Achour (Shabab Bourj) ** Ali Rmeity (Shabab Bourj) ** Hussein Sayed (Chabab Ghazieh) ** Kazzem Attieh (Tadamon Sour) ** Ali Abdallah Bitar (Tadamon Sour) ** Hussein Zein (Ahed) ** Ahmad Khatib (Bourj)


Notes


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:2020-21 Lebanese Premier League Lebanese Premier League seasons
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
1 Lebanese Premier League, 2020-21