Misplaced Pages

The 2022–23 Lebanese Premier League was the 61st season of the Lebanese Premier League, the top Lebanese league for football clubs since its establishment in 1934. The league started on 2 September 2022, and ended on 12 March 2023.

It was the third season to feature a "split" format, following its introduction in the 2020–21 season, in which the season was divided into two phases. Ahed won their second consecutive title, and ninth overall. Akhaa Ahli Aley and Salam Zgharta were relegated to the Lebanese Second Division.

Summary

Regulations

Each club had to involve two players under the age of 21 for at least 2,000 combined minutes, and three players for 3,000 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 was not able to 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.

For the first time since the cancelled 2019–20 season, each club could have three foreign players under contract.

Format

Following its introduction in the 2020–21 season, the 2022–23 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. Contrary to the previous season, the teams only carried over half of 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 twice; the champion automatically qualifies to the 2023–24 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs—assuming they meet the criteria set by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The runners-up instead directly qualified to the 2023–24 AFC Cup group stage—as long as the champions meet the AFC criteria for the AFC Champions League. The bottom six teams also played against each other twice, with the bottom two teams being relegated to the Lebanese Second Division.

Teams

Twelve teams competed in the league – the top ten teams from the 2021–22 Lebanese Premier League season and the two teams promoted from the Lebanese Second Division.

Stadiums and locations

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

Foreign players

Lebanese clubs were allowed to have three foreign players at their disposal at any time, as well as two extra Palestinian players born in Lebanon in a given match sheet (both of whom could not be fielded at the same time in a match). Moreover, each club competing in an AFC competition was allowed to field one extra foreign player, to be only played in continental matches, as the AFC allowed four foreign players to play in the starting eleven (one of whom from an AFC country).

• Players in bold were registered during the mid-season transfer window.
• Players in italics left the club during the mid-season transfer window.

Team	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Palestinian player(s)	Former players
Ahed	Emmanuel Obere	Issah Yakubu	Lee Erwin		Samad Kadiri
Akhaa Ahli Aley	Carlos Lomba	Álex Chico	Laércio	Wasim Abdalhadi	Fábio Vassalo Patrik Bordon
Ansar	Ichaka Diarra	Houssem Louati	Elhadji Malick Tall	Mohamad Hebous
Bourj	Richard Baffour	Dennis Tetteh		Zaher Samahe	Stephen Sarfo
Chabab Ghazieh	Ezra Amelinsa	Chizoba Ibe	Titteh Gideou	Yasser Serhan	Mani Ira Musa
Nejmeh	Jefinho	Vítor Barata	Matheus Farinha		Abdoulaye Fall Jean Baleke
Safa	Issa Keita	Adramé Diallo	Fredlin Mompremier	Ayman Abou Sahyoun	Alaa Hamadeh
Sagesse	Papa Sidibe	Mansa Konate	Boucounta Sarr	Mohammed Qasem	Sayed Payet
Salam Zgharta	James Innocent	Gerônimo	Vinícius Calamari	Ibrahim Abdelwahhab	Usule Martins
Shabab Sahel	Andrew Ikefe	Emmanuel Nettey	Bobby Clement	Hadi Dawkar
Tadamon Sour				Adnan Salloum Ghassan Sarriyeh	Biafri Nessemon Toussaint Christian Obiozor Daouda Diop
Tripoli	Suleiman Abu Zam'a	Ibrahim Al Rowwad	Mougbaya Beni de Dieu	Omar Kayed Ahmad Yassine Yehya Ghafour	Hael Al Badri Ahmad Sayed Attieh El Ajjaj

League table

1. Teams played each other once (11 matches), before the league was split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) where each team played the other teams in their group twice (10 matches). Teams carried over half their point tally from the first phase into the second phase.
2. Nejmeh qualified for the AFC Cup group stage as 2022–23 Lebanese FA Cup winners.
3. ^ Head-to-head results: Salam Zgharta 0–0 Safa; Salam Zgharta 0–1 Safa; Safa 1–1 Salam Zgharta

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Elhadji Malick Tall	Ansar	22
2	Hassan Maatouk	Ansar	10
	Mohamad Haidar	Ahed
4	Adramé Diallo	Safa	9
5	Khalil Bader	Nejmeh	8
	Boucounta Sarr	Sagesse
7	Zein Farran	Shabab Sahel	7

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Mohamad Omar Sadek	Bourj	Tripoli	4–1	9 September 2022
Elhadji Malick Tall	Ansar	Tripoli	6–0	18 September 2022
Elhadji Malick Tall	Ansar	Chabab Ghazieh	4–0	7 January 2023
Khalil Bader	Nejmeh	Shabab Sahel	4–1	11 February 2023
Mohammad Al Massri	Akhaa Ahli Aley	Tripoli	4–0	12 February 2023

See also

• 2022–23 Lebanese FA Cup

Notes

1. ^ Only used as a training ground

References

1. "سحب قرعة كأسي النخبة والتحدي ودوري الدرجتين الأولى والثانية وكأس لبنان". The LFA (in Arabic). Retrieved 14 July 2022.
2. ^ "بالصور: الاتحاد اللبناني يعلن تعديلات بالجملة". كووورة. 3 June 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
3. ^ "الاتحاد اللبناني يعلن عن قرارات حاسمة". كووورة. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
4. ^ Abou Diab, Rami (25 June 2020). "The new regulations for the Lebanese Premier League". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
5. "هل يُمكن أن يُحسم اللقب قبل الدورة السداسية؟". lebanonfg.com. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
6. Abdallah, Rakan (1 August 2020). "What are the criteria for a Lebanese club to play in the Champions League?". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
7. "2018/2019 Lebanese Premier League Squads confirmed". FA Lebanon. 21 September 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
8. Gineprini, Nicholas (20 March 2019). "Is a limit on foreign players, a limit for the development of Asian Football?". Calcio8Cina. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
9. "Lebanese First Division 2022/2023". Global Sports Archive. Retrieved 6 February 2023.

External links

• Official website

• Lebanese Premier League seasons
• 2022–23 in Asian association football leagues
• 2022–23 in Lebanese football leagues