Syrian Premier League

The Syrian Premier League (Arabic: الدوري السوري الممتاز) is a professional association football league in Syria and the top division of the Syrian football league system. The league comprises 12 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Syrian League 1st Division.^[1] The Syrian Premier League was founded in 1966, unifying the local leagues that had existed previously.^[2] Seasons mostly run from August to May.

Syrian Premier League

Organising body	Syrian Football Association (SFA)
Founded	1966; 59 years ago (1966)
Country	Syria
Confederation	AFC
Number of clubs	12
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Syrian League 1st Division
Domestic cup(s)	Syrian Cup Syrian Super Cup Syrian FA Shield
International cup(s)	AFC Challenge League Arab Club Champions Cup
Current champions	Al Ittihad Ahli (7th title) (2024–25)
Most championships	Al-Jaish (17 titles)
Top goalscorer	Raja Rafe (194)
Broadcaster(s)	Syria TV Sama TV
Website	sfa.sy
Current: 2024–25 Syrian Premier League

The first team to win the title was Al-Ittihad Ahli in 1967, whilst Al-Jaish has the record with 17 league titles. Their closest rivals, Al-Karamah, have won the league 8 times.

In the beginning, the main tournament was the first division, then the Syrian Football Association developed the competition in a historic step that allowed the participation of foreign players to turn the competition into a professional league.

Competition format

Competition

From the 2022–23 season, there are 12 clubs in the Premier League, instead of the previous 14. During the course of a season (usually from August or September to May) each club plays the others twice (a double round-robin system), once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents; for 22 games.

Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then goal difference, and then goals scored. If still equal, teams are deemed to occupy the same position. If there is a tie for the championship, for relegation, or for qualification to other competitions, a play-off match at a neutral venue decides rank.

Promotion and relegation

A system of promotion and relegation exists between the Syrian Premier League and the Syrian League 1st Division. The two lowest placed teams in Premier League are relegated to the League 1st Division, and the top two teams from the League 1st Division are promoted to the Premier League.

Number of teams

Teams	Seasons
20	2015–16
18	2012–13 until 2014–15
16	2011–12, 2016–17
15	1978–79 until 1979–80, 2003–04
14	1994–95 until 2000–01, 2004–05 until 2010–11, 2017–18 until 2021–22
13	1992–93, 2002–03
12	1975–76, 1981–82, 1984–85 until 1985–86, 1987–88 until 1991–92, 1993–94, 2022–23–present
11	1986–87
10	1969–70, 1972–73, 1976–77, 1983–84, 2001–02
9	1967–68 until 1968–69, 1974–75, 1982–83
8	1966–67

Qualification for Asian competitions

See also: AFC Club Competitions Ranking

As of 7 December 2021^[3]

Ranking			Member Association	Club Points					Points
2021	2020	Mvmt		2018	2019	2020	2021	Total
25	27	+2	Bahrain	1.633	2.500	0.000	3.583	7.717	16.812
26	24	-2	Indonesia	4.100	5.045	0.000	0.000	9.145	15.960
27	22	-5	Syria	2.000	3.133	0.000	1.778	6.911	12.061
28	28	—	Myanmar	4.062	1.600	0.000	0.000	5.662	9.881
29	26	-3	Maldives	4.300	0.000	0.000	0.200	4.500	7.853

Qualification criteria for 2022

See also: 2022 AFC Champions League§Association team allocation

See also: 2022 AFC Cup§Association team allocation

At present, the winners of Syrian Premier League qualify for the AFC Champions League play-off, and the league runners-up qualify for the AFC Cup group stage alongside the winners of Syrian Cup.^[4]

If the cup winners are also the league winners or runners-up, the third-placed team in the league qualifies for the AFC Cup group stage. The winners of the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup may earn an additional qualification for the subsequent season's AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs if they have not already qualified.

The number of places allocated to the Syrian clubs in AFC competitions is dependent upon the position the country holds in the AFC Club Competitions Ranking, which is calculated based upon the performance of teams in AFC competitions in the previous four years.

Current clubs (2024–25)

Stadiums and locations

Al-Karamah
Al-Wathba

Al-Wahda
Al-Jaish
Al-Shorta

Hutteen
Tishreen

Al-Taliya

Al-Ittihad

Jableh

Al-Fotuwa

Al-Shouleh

Locations of teams in the Syrian Premier League 2024–25

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Al-Wahda	Damascus	Al-Fayhaa Stadium	15,000
Al-Jaish	Damascus	Al-Jalaa Stadium	10,000
Al-Shorta	Damascus	Al-Jalaa Stadium	10,000
Al-Ittihad Ahli	Aleppo	Al-Hamadaniah Stadium	15,000
Al-Karamah	Homs	Khalid ibn al-Walid Stadium	32,000
Al-Wathba	Homs	Khalid ibn al-Walid Stadium	32,000
Al-Taliya	Hama	Hama Municipal Stadium	22,000
Tishreen	Latakia	Latakia Municipal Stadium	28,000
Hutteen	Latakia	Latakia Municipal Stadium	28,000
Jableh	Jableh	Al-Baath Stadium	10,000
Al-Fotuwa	Deir ez-Zor	Deir ez-Zor Municipal Stadium	13,000
Al-Shouleh	Daraa	Sports City Stadium	18,000

1: ^ Al-Karamah and Al-Wathba also use Bassel al-Assad Stadium (25,000 seats) as a home stadium.

List of seasons

Champions so far are:^[5]

Season	Winner	Runner-up	Third Place
1966–67	Al-Ittihad Ahli	Al-Futowa	Barada
1967–68	Al-Ittihad Ahli	Al-Futowa	Barada
1968–69	Barada	Al-Futowa	Al-Ittihad Ahli
1969–70	Barada	Al-Futowa	Al-Ittihad Ahli
1970–71	No Championship
1971–72
1972–73	Al-Jaish	Al-Shorta	Al-Karamah
1973–74	No Championship
1974–75	Al-Karamah	Al-Futowa	Al-Ittihad Ahli
1975–76	Al-Jaish	Al-Shorta	Al-Karamah
1976–77	Al-Ittihad Ahli	Al-Karamah	Al-Hurriya
1977–78	No Championship
1978–79	Al-Jaish	Al-Shorta	Al-Ittihad Ahli
1979–80	Al-Shorta	Al-Hurriya	Al-Ittihad Ahli
1980–81	No Championship
1981–82	Tishreen	Al-Wathba	Al-Ittihad Ahli
1982–83	Al-Karamah	Al-Ittihad Ahli	Al-Futowa
1983–84	Al-Karamah	Jableh	Al-Ittihad Ahli
1984–85	Al-Jaish	Al-Karamah	Jableh
1985–86	Al-Jaish	Jableh	Al-Futowa
1986–87	Jableh	Al-Karamah	Al-Shorta
1987–88	Jableh	Al-Ittihad Ahli	Al-Futowa
1988–89	Jableh	Al-Shorta	Al-Ittihad Ahli
1989–90	Al-Futowa	Al-Karamah	Al-Wathba
1990–91	Al-Futowa	Jableh	Al-Shorta
1991–92	Al-Hurriya	Jableh	Al-Ittihad Ahli
1992–93	Al-Ittihad Ahli	Al-Karamah	Al-Hurriya
1993–94	Al-Hurriya	Jableh	Al-Ittihad Ahli
1994–95	Al-Ittihad Ahli	Al-Karamah	Jableh
1995–96	Al-Karamah	Hutteen	Al-Hurriya
1996–97	Tishreen	Al-Jaish	Al-Karamah
1997–98	Al-Jaish	Al-Karamah	Hutteen
1998–99	Al-Jaish	Al-Karamah	Al-Wahda
1999–00	Jableh	Hutteen	Tishreen
2000–01	Al-Jaish	Al-Karamah	Al-Jihad
2001–02	Al-Jaish	Al-Ittihad Ahli	Al-Wahda
2002–03	Al-Jaish	Al-Ittihad Ahli	Qardaha
2003–04	Al-Wahda	Al-Karamah	Tishreen
2004–05	Al-Ittihad Ahli	Al-Karamah	Al-Wahda
2005–06	Al-Karamah	Al-Jaish	Al-Wahda
2006–07	Al-Karamah	Al-Ittihad Ahli	Taliya
2007–08	Al-Karamah	Al-Majd	Al-Ittihad Ahli
2008–09	Al-Karamah	Al-Ittihad Ahli	Al-Jaish
2009–10	Al-Jaish	Al-Karamah	Tishreen
2010–11	Suspended
2011–12	Al-Shorta	Al-Jaish	Al-Wahda
2012–13	Al-Jaish	Al-Shorta	Al-Hurriya
2013–14	Al-Wahda	Al-Jaish	Al-Muhafaza
2014–15	Al-Jaish	Al-Wahda	Al-Shorta
2015–16	Al-Jaish	Al-Wahda	Al-Ittihad Ahli
2016–17	Al-Jaish	Tishreen	Al-Wahda
2017–18	Al-Jaish	Al-Ittihad Ahli	Al-Wahda
2018–19	Al-Jaish	Tishreen	Al-Wahda
2019–20	Tishreen	Al-Wathba	Hutteen
2020–21	Tishreen	Al-Jaish	Al-Karamah
2021–22	Tishreen	Al-Wathba	Al-Jaish
2022–23	Al-Fotuwa	Al-Ittihad Ahli	Jableh
2023–24	Al-Fotuwa	Jableh	Tishreen
2024–25	Al Ittihad Ahli	Al-Karamah	Hutteen

Performances

Performance by club

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Third place	Winning years
Al-Jaish	17	5	1	1972–73, 1975–76, 1978–79, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2009–10, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19
Al-Karamah	8	13	4	1974–75, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1995–96, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09
Al-Ittihad Ahli	7	8	12	1966–67, 1967–68, 1976–77, 1992–93, 1994–95, 2004–05, 2024–25
Tishreen	5	2	4	1981–82, 1996–97, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22
Jableh	4	6	3	1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1999–2000
Al-Futowa	4	5	3	1989–90, 1990–91, 2022–23, 2023–24
Al-Shorta	2	5	3	1979–80, 2011–12
Al-Wahda	2	3	8	2003–04, 2013–14
Al-Hurriya	2	1	4	1991–92, 1993–94
Barada	2	—	2	1968–69, 1969–70

Performance by city

City	Winners	Club(s)
Damascus	23	Al-Jaish, Al-Shorta, Al-Wahda, Barada
Aleppo	9	Al-Ittihad Ahli, Al-Hurriya
Homs	8	Al-Karamah
Latakia	5	Tishreen
Jableh	4	Jableh
Deir ez-Zor	4	Al-Futowa

Doubles

Five teams have won the double of the Syrian Premier League and the Syrian Cup in the same season.

Club	Number of titles	Winning seasons
Al-Karamah	5	1983, 1996, 2007, 2008, 2009
Al-Jaish	4	1986, 1998, 2002, 2018
Al-Fotuwa	3	1990, 1991, 2024
Al-Shorta	1	1980
Al-Hurriya	1	1992

Records and statistics

All seasons top goalscorers

Main article: List of Syrian Premier League top scorers

All time top goalscorers

As of 1 May 2024

Boldface indicates a player still active in Syrian Premier League.

No.	Player	Goals	Years
1	Raja Rafe[6]	194	2000–2021
2	Mohammed Al Wakid	173	2004–
3	Aref Al Agha	161	1995–2009

League participation

As of 2022, 35 clubs have participated. The tallies since its establishment in 1966 until the end of the 2021–22 season.^[5]

• 50 seasons: Al-Ittihad Ahli

Records

• The highest points average for the league champion: 64 points (Al-Karamah, 2007–08 season).
• The fastest goal in the history of the league was scored by Al-Majd player Samer Awad against Qardaha, the 2005–06 season, after just 16 seconds.

See also

• Syrian Premier League top scorers
• List of football stadiums in Syria
• List of football clubs in Syria
• Football in Syria