The 2022–23

Malian Première Division Malian Première Division ( French: ''Première division malienne'') is the top division of football in Mali. Having been created in 1966, it is governed by the Malian Football Federation. The league has been professional since 2004. The official ...

was the 56th season of the highest level of professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

in Mali. The championship was contested by 16 teams, starting in October 2022 and finishing in July 2023.

Djoliba AC Djoliba Athletic Club is a Malian football club and one of the two biggest teams in Mali alongside the Stade Malien. The team is based in the capital city of Bamako. It has its headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes th ...

were the holders going into the season following their 23rd title in the 2021–22 season, but lost the title to

AS Real Bamako Association Sportive du Real Bamako, commonly referred to as Real Bamako is a Malian professional football club based in Bamako. They compete in the Malian Première Division, top division of Malian football. Their home stadium is Stade Modibo ...

, who won their 7th title.

Overview

Following the reduction of the Première Division from 20 clubs to 18 clubs in the 2021–22 season, there was a further reduction of two teams ahead of the 2022–23 season meaning that 16 clubs contested the championship.

Binga FC Binga FC is a Malian football club based in Bamako. They play in the Malian Première Division as of the 2022–23 season, having been promoted from the second level at the end of the previous season. History Binga FC reached the final of the ...

and

US Bougouni US Bougouni is a Malian football club. The team is based in the city of Bougouni. They are the first second-division team to win the Malian Cup. Achievements * Malien Cup: 1 :: 2012 Performance in CAF competitions *CAF Confederation Cup: 1 appe ...

were promoted from the second tier, replacing the four relegated teams from the season before -

CS Duguwolofila Club Sportive Duguwolofila de Koulikoro is a Malian football club. The team is based in the city of Koulikoro Koulikoro ( Bambara: ߞߎߟߌߞߏߙߏ tr. Kulikoro) is a town and urban commune in Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, ...

, US Bougouba,

AS Olympique de Messira AS Olympique de Messira is a Malian football club based in Bamako. They play in the Malien Première Division Malian may refer to: * Malian, Iran (disambiguation), places in Iran with the name * Something of, from, or related to Mali, a count ...

and AS Douanes de Sikasso. Teams played in a home-and-away round robin format. The title race was largely contested by

and

, who were tied at the top at the halfway point. The two pulled away further in the second half of the season, with AS Real finishing three points ahead of Djoliba after 30 games to claim the title. At the other end of the table, USC Kita survived a poor start that put them in the bottom two after the first 15 games, finishing 12th. Lafia Club de Bamako instead dropped into the relegation zone, joining

Yeelen Olympique Yeelen Olympique is a Malian association football club based in Bamako, Mali. It was founded in August 2003 as a platform for young aspiring footballers to develop while receiving academic support. The club played in the top-flight of Malian foot ...

who only managed 12 points and ended 18 points away from safety. They will be replaced by US Bougouba and ATS Koro who won their respective ''Tournoi de Montée'' pools. Joint-record champions

Stade Malien Stade Malien is a Malian professional Association football, football and sports club based in Bamako. One of the two dominant clubs of Malian football, their eastern Bamako training grounds host other sports as well, including a successful bask ...

had a poor league campaign, finishing in 9th place and 21 points behind

. However, they managed to go all the way in the Malian Cup, beating Simbo AC, CASS,

USFAS Bamako USFAS Bamako is a Malian football club based in Bamako. They play in the top division of Malian football and are owned by the Malian Army. Their home stadium is Stade Municipal de USFAS. Achievements * Malien Cup: 1 :: 1995 Performance in CAF c ...

and

on the way to the final. There they beat

Onze Créateurs de Niaréla In southern Italy, the ''oncia'' (plural ''oncie'' or ''once'') or ''onza'' (pl. ''onze'') was a unit of account during the Middle Ages and later a gold coin minted between 1732 and 1860. It was also minted in the southern Italian territories of t ...

1–0, thus qualifying for the

2023–24 CAF Confederation Cup The 2023–24 CAF Confederation Cup (officially the 2023–24 TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 21st edition of Africa's secondary club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF ...

League table

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2022-23 Malian Première Division Malian Première Division seasons