2012–13 Iraqi Elite League

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

Iraqi Elite League

Season	2012–13
Dates	19 October 2012 – 4 September 2013
Champions	Al-Shorta (3rd title)
Relegated	Al-Kahrabaa Sulaymaniya Al-Sinaa Kirkuk
AFC Champions League	Al-Shorta
AFC Cup	Erbil
Matches played	305
Goals scored	776 (2.54 per match)
Top goalscorer	Amjad Radhi (25 goals)
Biggest home win	Al-Zawraa 7–0 Kirkuk (29 April 2013) Erbil 8–1 Al-Minaa (27 June 2013)
Biggest away win	Al-Sinaa 0–6 Al-Minaa (12 April 2013)
Highest scoring	Erbil 8–1 Al-Minaa (27 June 2013)
Longest winning run	6 games Zakho Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
Longest unbeaten run	20 games Al-Shorta
Longest winless run	14 games Kirkuk
Longest losing run	12 games Kirkuk
← 2011–12 2013–14 (Iraqi Premier League) →

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 Erbil, Duhok, Al-Zawraa and Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya.^[1]

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 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.^[2]

SWAT incident

On 23 June 2013, after a match with Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, seven football players of Karbala 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.^[3] Several teams refused to play their matches in round 25 as a result of the incident.

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Al-Shorta (C)	34	20	12	2	62	29	+33	72	Qualification for the AFC Champions League preliminary round 1
2	Erbil	34	21	7	6	68	34	+34	70	Qualification for the AFC Cup group stage
3	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	34	21	6	7	60	33	+27	69
4	Al-Zawraa	34	18	11	5	61	29	+32	65
5	Duhok	34	16	10	8	54	35	+19	58
6	Baghdad	34	13	14	7	36	28	+8	53
7	Zakho	34	14	10	10	48	41	+7	52
8	Al-Minaa	34	15	7	12	54	48	+6	52
9	Al-Naft	34	13	7	14	43	43	0	46
10	Naft Al-Junoob	33	9	12	12	47	49	−2	39[a]
11	Al-Najaf	34	10	8	16	34	43	−9	38
12	Karbala	34	9	10	15	40	49	−9	37
13	Masafi Al-Wasat	34	10	7	17	27	39	−12	37
14	Al-Talaba	34	9	8	17	35	47	−12	35
15	Al-Kahrabaa (R)	33	9	7	17	30	49	−19	34[a]	Relegation to the Iraqi First Division League
16	Sulaymaniya (R)	34	9	7	18	37	60	−23	34
17	Al-Sinaa (R)	34	4	13	17	23	46	−23	25
18	Kirkuk (R)	34	4	6	24	17	74	−57	18

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Al-Kahrabaa and Naft Al-Junoob refused to play each other in round 25 after the hospitalisation of Karbala's coach Mohammed Abbas Al-Jabouri. On July 27, before round 30, the IFA decided not to deduct either team any points.

Results

Home \ Away	KAH	MIN	NFT	NJF	QWJ	SHR	SIN	TLB	ZWR	BGD	DUH	ERB	KRB	KRK	MAS	NFJ	SUL	ZAK
Al-Kahrabaa		0–1	2–1	1–0	0–3	1–1	1–1	0–1	0–1	0–2	1–1	3–5	2–1	2–0	1–0	–[a]	1–0	1–2
Al-Minaa	1–0		1–0	3–1	1–3	2–1	1–1	0–0	0–1	2–1	1–2	2–3	4–4	3–0[b]	0–0	0–2	5–2	2–1
Al-Naft	1–2	2–1		4–1	2–2	1–2	3–1	1–2	1–2	2–4	0–0	1–2	1–0	3–2	4–2	2–1	0–2	1–1
Al-Najaf	1–3	1–1	1–0		3–1	1–1	1–0	3–1	1–1	0–0	2–1	0–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	4–2	1–1
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	3–1	1–3	0–0	1–0		4–0	1–0	2–1	3–3	1–0	2–1	3–0	1–0	3–0[a]	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–0
Al-Shorta	0–0	4–1	2–2	2–0	4–1		3–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–3	1–1	3–2	1–0	5–0	2–1	4–0	2–0
Al-Sinaa	1–1	0–6	0–1	0–0	2–1	0–1		2–0	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–1	1–2	0–1	1–0	1–1	0–0	0–1
Al-Talaba	2–0	0–3	0–0	2–1	1–2	0–3	2–1		1–2	0–2	2–2	2–2	2–1	2–0	0–1	0–1	3–0[a]	2–3
Al-Zawraa	1–0	0–0	4–0	1–0	1–2	1–2	3–0[c]	1–0		2–2	1–1	0–1	2–2	7–0	2–1	3–2	4–0	4–1
Baghdad	0–0	1–0	1–0	0–3[a]	2–1	1–1	2–1	0–0	1–1		1–2	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	1–1	3–2	1–1
Duhok	1–0	1–0	0–1	3–2	1–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–3	2–0		1–2	2–1	4–0	2–1	4–2	4–0	2–2
Erbil	2–1	8–1	0–1	4–1	1–1	0–1	1–0	3–1	2–1	1–0	0–1		3–0[d]	6–0	3–0	0–1	4–1	2–1
Karbala	0–1	1–0	0–3	1–1	2–4	0–1	1–1	3–2	0–2	2–1	1–1	1–1		4–0	0–0	2–1	0–0	3–2
Kirkuk	1–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	0–3	0–1	2–1	2–1	1–1	0–0	0–4	1–2	0–1		0–1	1–2	1–2	0–1
Masafi Al-Wasat	2–0	0–1	1–2	1–0	0–0	2–3	2–2	1–1	0–1	0–1	1–0	1–1	0–1	3–0		1–0	2–1	2–1
Naft Al-Junoob	4–1	4–3	3–1	3–1	0–1	0–2	2–2	1–1	2–2	0–3	1–1	1–1	2–2	2–0	1–1		1–1	3–3
Sulaymaniya	3–1	0–1	0–2	1–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–1	0–2	1–1	1–3	2–3	2–1	6–2	0–1	1–0		0–1
Zakho	6–2	2–3	1–0	1–0	3–2	0–0	2–1	0–1	0–0	0–0	1–0	1–2	1–0	4–0	1–0	2–2	1–1

Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

1. Al-Talaba, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya and Al-Najaf were awarded 3–0 wins in round 25 because their respective opponents Sulaymaniya, Kirkuk and Amanat Baghdad all withdrew following the hospitalisation of Karbala's manager Mohammed Abbas Al-Jabouri. Meanwhile, the Al-Kahrabaa–Naft Al-Junoob match from the same round was not held as both teams refused to play the game.
2. The Al-Minaa–Kirkuk match was awarded as a 3–0 win to Al-Minaa, as Kirkuk did not turn up for the game.
3. The Al-Zawraa–Al-Sinaa match was awarded as a 3–0 win to Al-Zawraa, as Al-Sinaa refused to play the game in protest at the IFA reversing its punishment of Al-Zawraa fans and allowing them to attend the game.
4. The Erbil–Karbala match was awarded as a 3–0 win to Erbil, as Karbala did not turn up for the game.

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Amjad Radhi	Erbil	25
2	Alaa Abdul-Zahra	Duhok	20
3	Mustafa Karim	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	18
4	Luay Salah	Erbil	15
5	Mustafa Jawda	Al-Kahrabaa	11
	Haidar Sabah	Al-Zawraa

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Iraq Stars League hat-tricks

Player[4]	For	Against	Result	Date
Jean Michel N'Lend	Al-Shorta	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	4–1	18 November 2012
Nasser Tallaa4	Al-Minaa	Sulaymaniya	5–2	27 January 2013
Amjad Radhi	Erbil	Kirkuk	6–0	28 January 2013
Amjad Radhi	Erbil	Al-Najaf	4–1	28 February 2013
Hassan Hamoud	Al-Minaa	Al-Sinaa	6–0	12 April 2013
Alaa Abdul-Zahra	Duhok	Kirkuk	4–0	19 April 2013
Emad Mohammed	Al-Zawraa	Kirkuk	7–0	29 April 2013
Mustafa Jawda	Al-Kahrabaa	Erbil	3–5	6 May 2013
Younis Shakor	Zakho	Al-Kahrabaa	6–2	4 September 2013
Firas Ismail	Zakho	Al-Kahrabaa	6–2	4 September 2013

Notes

⁴ Player scored 4 goals

Media coverage

Iraqi Elite League Media Coverage
Country	Television Channel	Matches
Iraq	Al-Iraqiya Sports Channel	3 matches per round

See also

• 2012–13 Iraqi First Division League
• 2012–13 Iraq FA Cup
• 2013 Baghdad Cup