2003–04 Iraqi Premier League

The 2003–04 Iraqi Premier League kicked off on January 8, 2004. The name of the league was changed from Iraqi First Division League to Iraqi Premier League. Due to security issues and scheduling difficulties, the season was officially cancelled in June 2004 during the group stage.[1]

Iraqi Premier League
Season2003–04
ChampionsN/A (season cancelled)
AFC Champions LeagueAl-Shorta
Al-Zawraa
← 2002–03
(Iraqi First Division League)

The top four teams from each group were meant to advance to the elite stage, which would be followed by semi-finals, a third place match and a final, with the champions and runners-up qualifying for the 2005 AFC Champions League and the third and fourth-placed teams qualifying for the 2004–05 Arab Champions League.

As the league was not completed, the Iraq Football Association (IFA) decided that a play-off would be held between the top four teams from the Central Groups to decide which two sides would qualify for the AFC Champions League, on the assumption that the leaders of the North and South Groups at the time of cancellation (Erbil and Al-Najaf) would be able to take part in the Arab Champions League along with Al-Talaba, who were specially invited to compete.

Al-Shorta and Al-Zawraa were the teams to qualify to the AFC Champions League, but no teams were admitted to the Arab Champions League after Iraq withdrew from the tournament following UAFA's decision to only let them have one participant in Al-Talaba.[2][3]

Name changes

Group stage at abandonment

North Group
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts PPG ERB MSL ZAK KIR DUH SUL PRS
1 Erbil[lower-alpha 1] 10 6 3 1 19 8 +11 21 2.10 2–1 1–1 4–1 2–1 5–0 2–1
2 Al-Mosul 8 5 1 2 13 8 +5 16 2.00 2–1 3–0 2–2 1–0 2–1
3 Zakho 10 4 3 3 11 9 +2 15 1.50 1–2 1–0 3–2 3–0
4 Kirkuk 10 4 3 3 8 10 −2 15 1.50 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–0 1–0 2–1
5 Duhok 7 4 0 3 10 6 +4 12 1.71 1–0 2–0 3–0 3–2
6 Sulaymaniya 9 2 0 7 6 17 −11 6 0.67 1–2 0–2 1–0 2–0
7 Peris 8 0 2 6 5 14 −9 2 0.25 0–0 0–0
Source: Goalzz
Notes:
  1. On the assumption that Iraq would be granted three slots for the 2004–05 Arab Champions League, the IFA planned to admit Erbil into the competition as leaders of the North Group. However, UAFA only allowed Iraq to have one participant, leading to Iraq withdrawing from the tournament.

Central Group 1
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts PPG Qualification QWJ SHR KAR EST DIY SAL
1 Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 6 6 0 0 13 0 +13 18 3.00 Additional play-offs 2–0 1–0 5–0
2 Al-Shorta 6 5 1 0 19 4 +15 16 2.67 2–1 7–1 2–1
3 Al-Karkh 8 4 1 3 12 11 +1 13 1.63 2–2 2–0 2–0
4 Al-Estiqlal 8 3 1 4 11 15 −4 10 1.25 0–2 0–5 5–1 2–4 1–0
5 Diyala 9 2 0 7 7 21 −14 6 0.67 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–1 2–0
6 Salahaddin 9 1 1 7 5 16 −11 4 0.44 0–1 1–1 0–2 3–0
Source: Goalzz

Central Group 2
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts PPG Qualification NFT JSH TLB SMR SIN ZWR
1 Al-Naft 6 3 2 1 3 2 +1 11 1.83 Additional play-offs 1–0 0–0 0–2
2 Al-Jaish 7 3 1 3 11 11 0 10 1.43 0–1 2–2 4–2 1–3
3 Al-Talaba[lower-alpha 1] 2 2 0 0 5 1 +4 6 3.00 2–0
4 Samarra 5 1 3 1 5 5 0 6 1.20 0–1 1–0
5 Al-Sinaa 8 1 2 5 9 15 −6 5 0.63 0–0 2–3 1–3 2–2
6 Al-Zawraa 2 1 0 1 3 2 +1 3 1.50 Additional play-offs 0–1
Source: Goalzz
Notes:
  1. On the assumption that Iraq would be granted three slots for the 2004–05 Arab Champions League, the IFA planned to admit Al-Talaba into the competition after they were invited to compete by ART. However, UAFA only allowed Iraq to have one participant, leading to Iraq withdrawing from the tournament.

South Group
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts PPG NJF KRB SMA MIN NAS BSR
1 Al-Najaf[lower-alpha 1] 7 6 0 1 13 4 +9 18 2.57 1–0 3–0 3–1 2–0
2 Karbala 9 5 2 2 12 7 +5 17 1.89 1–1 1–0 2–0 1–1
3 Al-Samawa 9 4 3 2 12 11 +1 15 1.67 2–1 0–2 0–0 2–1 1–0
4 Al-Minaa 7 3 2 2 3 4 −1 11 1.57 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–0
5 Al-Nasiriya 8 1 0 7 8 15 −7 3 0.38 0–1 2–3 2–3 2–0
6 Al-Basra 8 0 3 5 6 13 −7 3 0.38 1–2 1–2 3–3
Source: Goalzz
Notes:
  1. On the assumption that Iraq would be granted three slots for the 2004–05 Arab Champions League, the IFA planned to admit Al-Najaf into the competition as leaders of the South Group. However, UAFA only allowed Iraq to have one participant, leading to Iraq withdrawing from the tournament.

Additional play-offs for AFC Champions League
Al-Zawraaw/o
(Al-Naft withdrew)		Al-Naft

Al-Zawraa qualified for the 2005 AFC Champions League.

Al-Shorta3–2Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
A. Abdul-Hussein
T. Abdul-Hussein 46'
Ridha 65'		 Mohammed
Abdul-Wahid
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya1–1Al-Shorta
Khudhair
Mohammed Red card		 Ridha
Referee: Samir Shubaib

Al-Shorta won 4–3 on aggregate and qualified for the 2005 AFC Champions League.

Season statistics

Hat-tricks
Main article: List of Iraq Stars League hat-tricks
Player[4]ForAgainstResultDate
Iraq Hashim Ridha Al-ShortaDiyala7–19 January 2004
Iraq Hussein Abdullah ErbilKirkuk4–110 May 2004

References
  1. Al-Abbar, Ali (5 June 2004). "Cancellation the Iraqi League in order to devote time to clubs' and national teams' participations". Goalzz.com.
  2. Al-Sabti, Ali (2014). Iraqi League History 1974-2011. Iraq.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. Al-Munshi, Dr.Dhia (2005). Iraqi Football Encyclopedia: Chico.. Jamoli… and football in Iraq. Citadel Printing & Design, Al-Saadoun, Baghdad.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. "Iraqi Premier League 2003/2004 Group Stage All Fixtures". Goalzz. Kooora.com. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
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