2018–19 Libyan Premier League

The 2018–19 Libyan Premier League season was an abandoned season that was supposed to be the 46th since its establishment. The season has started on 28 November 2018. Fixtures of the 2018–19 were announced on 30 October 2018.[1]

Libyan Premier League
Season2018–19
Dates28 November 2018 – TBD 2019
ChampionsNone (Cancelled)
RelegatedNone (Cancelled)
Matches played88
Goals scored151 (1.72 per match)
Top goalscorerAutemar
Moataz Al-Mehdi
(4 goals)
Biggest home winAl-Ahly Benghazi 5–0 Al Ta'awon
(31 December 2018)
Biggest away winAsswehly 0–3 Al-Ittihad
(4 January 2019)
Al-Ittihad 0–3 Abu Salem
(15 January 2019)
Highest scoringAsswehly 4–2 Rafik
(22 January 2019)
Longest winning run4 matches
Al-Akhdar
Asswehly
Longest unbeaten run8 matches
Al-Ahly Benghazi
Al-Madina
Longest winless run8 matches
Al-Mahalla
Aschat
Khaleej Sirte
Rafik
Longest losing run7 matches
Al-Anwar
2019–20 →
All statistics correct as of 3 March 2019.

Al-Nasr were the defending champions. Al-Sadaqa and Abu Salem joined as the promoted clubs from the 2017–18 Libyan First Division. They replaced Qurdabia, Al-Andalus, Ascharara, Abi al Ashhar, Al-Tarsana and Annajma who were relegated to the 2018–19 Libyan First Division.

Summary

Before the start of the season many disagreements took place which led to the postponement of the start of the season several times. The Competition Organising Committee in the Libyan Football Federation has chosen 14 September to be the date of starting the new season but, there were 4 clubs who demanded the postponement of the season. These clubs were Al-Nasr, Al-Ahly Benghazi, Al-Ahly Tripoli, Al-Madina. The reason behind this was that these clubs wanted to hold a meeting for the general assembly for discussing the problems that the previous season has faced and how to avoid them and solve the current . As a result of the clubs demands and the security situations, The Competition Committee delayed the start of the new season until 2 October but didn't hold the general assembly meeting. However, On 12 October the eastern group clubs were hosted in the headquarters of Darnes Club. The clubs made an agreement to refuse the start of the season until they get their demands from the Football Federation. Their demands were:

  1. To delay the start of the season for at least 10 November
  2. To get financial support from the Football Federation
  3. To reduce the number of relegated clubs from each group from 3 to 2
  4. To approve Derna Stadium as a match holding stadium in the next season

The Football Federation had accepted their demands except the 2nd point. On the other hand, All the western clubs (except Al-Ahly Tripoli and Al-Ittihad) also held a meeting in Al-Madina Club and they also have refused the start of the season until they get their demands which were to get financial support from the Football Federation but the last didn't approve their demands and delayed the season again due to problems and this time until 26 October. However, another club meeting was held between all the western clubs (except Al-Ittihad and Al-Ittihad Misurata) in Abu Salem Club headquarters where they agreed to not start the season until the removal of the president of the Libyan Football Federation Jamal Aljaafari. Meanwhile, the Competition Committee has held the draw of the league without the knowledge of the clubs and without any representative from them in the draw ceremonies and the draw wasn't held in the headquarters of the Football Federation in Tripoli but it was held in Misurata instead. The Competition Committee has also chosen 9 November as a date of starting the new season. However, because of the long postponement of the season which will have a negative effect on the club's especially those who will compete on continental level and will also affect the national team, the clubs Rafik and Asswehly have agreed to start the new season without any demands. The Competition Committee as usual delayed the season until 21 November to solve some problems. On the other hand the refusing clubs of the East and West which were: Abu Salem, Aschat, Al-Ahly Tripoli Al-Wahda, Al-Madina, Al-Hilal, Al-Mahalla, Shabaab al Jabal, Darnes and Al Ta'awon have organised a competition for the necessity of keeping their players in the form of games. The competition was under the name of Activator Competition for Libyan Premier League Clubs or Libya Tajma'ona (Libya brings us together). However, some refusing clubs like Al-Ahly Benghazi and Al-Nasr didn't participate in the competition because of their preparation for CAF Champions League preliminary round games as they were camping in Egypt. On 21 November the refusing clubs made a statement indicating their demand for holding the General Assembly meeting and their need for financial support. However, the league has already started and the first game was between Al-Ittihad and Aschat which saw the withdrawal of the latter because of their refusal to start the league before getting what they demanded in the statement. On 24 November, the Executive Office held a meeting to decide whether to keep or withdraw the trust from the LFF president Jamal Aljaafari by the majority of vote. The majority decided to withdraw trust from Jamal Aljaafari and he will be removed from his position temporarily until the New General Assembly meeting which was scheduled to be held on 8 December in Sirte until it was delayed to 20 December in Marj. However, The league will continue on its scheduled date. The executive office has appointed the former referee and vice president Abdulhakim Alshilmani as the new president for the Libyan Football Federation. 85 clubs representatives have attended the meeting with 82 clubs voting against Jamal Aljaafari, 2 clubs voting for him and 1 club refusing to vote. As a result, Jamal Aljaafari was removed permanently from his position as a president of the Libyan Football Federation.

The second round of matches in the second group featured the first Tripoli Derby of the season, which Al-Ittihad won 2–1 at Misurata Stadium against Al-Ahly Tripoli. The result put Al-Ahly into 12th place temporarily. Other early pace-setters included Al-Akhdar and Shabaab al Jabal who are currently the top two teams in the first group as of mid-February, Asswehly, Al-Madina and Abu Salem who are the second, third and fourth placed teams in the second group respectively as of the first week of February. The third round of matches in the first group featured the first "Benghazi Derby" of the season, which Al-Ahly Benghazi won 1-0 at Benina Stadium against Al-Nasr.

The season suffered delays several times. It was first delayed in mid-February so that the national team could hold a training camp in Tunisia in preparation for an important match against South Africa. It was delayed again a month later for the same reason.

Early in the season, the LFF announced that the season would continue during Ramadan at night. However, due to the 2019 Western Libya offensive, the LFF decided to suspend the league. Sources inside the LFF indicated that the season was close to being cancelled. However, the LFF decided to postpone the season until June 15 (though at this stage, many foreign coaches had fled the country and foreign players terminated their contracts).

June 15th passed, and there was no sign of the league continuing. The LFF later decided to cancel the season and announced that Al-Ittihad will play in the 2019-20 CAF Confederation Cup and Al-Nasr will play in the 2019-20 CAF Champions League.

Teams

Team changes
Promoted from
2017–18 Libyan First Division		 Relegated from
2017–18 Libyan Premier League
Al Sadaqa
Abu Salem		 Qurdabia
Al-Andalus
Ascharara
Abi al Ashhar
Al-Tarsana
Annajma

Groups

Due to the continued security situation in Libya in 2018 and the difficulty in air-travel for most teams, the participating teams were grouped by their geographical location into two groups of twelve teams. Teams from each group were scheduled to play every team from their group in a home-and-away round robin format with 3 points given for a win and 1 point for a draw.

Team Location
Group 1 Al-Ahly Benghazi Benghazi
Al Akhdar Bayda
Al-Anwar Al-Abyar
Al-Hilal Benghazi
Al-Nasr Benghazi
Al Sadaqa Shahhat
Al Ta'awon Ajdabiya
Al Tahaddy Benghazi
Nojom Ajdabiya Ajdabiya
Darnes Derna
Khaleej Sirte Sirte
Shabaab al Jabal Shahhat
Group 2 Abu Salem Tripoli
Al-Ahli Tripoli Tripoli
Al-Ittihad Tripoli
Al-Ittihad Misurata Misurata
Al-Khums Al-Khums
Al-Madina Tripoli
Al-Mahalla Tripoli
Al-Wahda Tripoli
Aschat Tripoli
Asswehly Misurata
Olympic Azzaweya Zawiya
Rafik Sorman

Stadia and Locations
Locations of the 2018–19 Libyan Premier League teams
TeamLocationStadiumCapacity
Abu SalemTripoliTripoli Stadium80,000
Al-Ahly BenghaziBenghaziBenina Stadium10,550
Al-Ahly TripoliTripoliTripoli Stadium80,000
Al-AkhdarAl-BaydaSheikh Chadae Stadium10,000
Al-AnwarAl-AbyarSheikh Chadae Stadium10,000
Al-HilalBenghaziBenina Stadium10,550
Al-IttihadTripoliTripoli Stadium80,000
Al-Ittihad MisurataMisurataMisurata Stadium10,000
Al-KhumsAl-KhumsAl-Khums Stadium10,000
Al-MadinaTripoliTripoli Stadium80,000
Al-MahallaTripoliTripoli Stadium80,000
Al-NasrBenghaziBenina Stadium10,550
Al-SadaqaShahhatShahhat Stadium10,000
Al Ta'awonAjdabiyaBenina Stadium10,550
Al-TahaddyBenghaziBenina Stadium10,550
Al-WahdaTripoliTripoli Stadium80,000
AschatTripoliTripoli Stadium80,000
AsswehlyMisurataMisurata Stadium10,000
DarnesDernaDerna Stadium7,000
Khaleej SirteSirteSirte Stadium2,000
Nojom AjdabiyaAjdabiyaBenina Stadium10,550
Olympic AzzaweyaZawiyaZaawia Stadium14,000
RafikSormanOm Al-Rabi Stadium8,000
Shabaab al JabalShahhatShahhat Stadium10,000

Stadiums

The following stadiums were chosen by the Competitions Committee to be available to host league games.

Stadium Location
Misurata Stadium Misurata
Al-Khums Stadium Al-Khums
Zliten Stadium Zliten
Janzour Academy Stadium Tripoli
Zaawia Stadium Zawiya
Tarhuna Municipal Stadium Tarhuna
Sorman Stadium Sorman
Zuwarah Stadium Zuwarah
Riqdalin Stadium Riqdalin
Al-Jameel Stadium Al-Jameel
Zintan Stadium Zintan
Gharyan Stadium Gharyan
Sabha Stadium Sabha
Sirte Stadium Sirte
Marj Stadium Marj
Sheikh Chadae Stadium Al-Bayda
Shahhat Stadium Shahhat
Derna Stadium Derna
Tobruk Stadium Tobruk
Musaid Stadium Musaid
Tripoli Stadium1 Tripoli
Martyrs of Benina Stadium1 Benghazi (Benina)

1 As per the decision of the Stadiums Assessments Committee of the Libyan Football Federation on 30 October 2018 these stadiums will not host matches until they are repaired. [2] On 27 January, the Competition Committee announced the ability of these stadiums to host the league games again.

First stage

Standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Al-Ahly Benghazi 11 7 4 0 17 6 +11 25 Qualification for Championship playoff
2 Al-Nasr 11 7 2 2 15 6 +9 23
3 Al-Akhdar 11 7 2 2 12 6 +6 23
4 Al-Hilal 11 6 1 4 14 11 +3 19
5 Al-Ta'awon 11 4 6 1 9 9 0 18
6 Shabaab al Jabal 11 4 5 2 8 6 +2 17
7 Al-Sadaqa 11 3 5 3 8 9 −1 14
8 Nojoom Ajdabiya 11 3 2 6 12 18 −6 11
9 Al-Tahaddy 11 2 4 5 6 8 −2 10
10 Darnes 11 2 3 6 5 10 −5 9
11 Khaleej Sirte 11 0 6 5 1 7 −6 6 Relegation to Libyan First Division
12 Al-Anwar 11 0 2 9 4 15 −11 2
Updated to match(es) played on 6 April 2019. Source: kooora.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Head-to-head away goals scored; 6) Goal difference; 7) Goals scored; 8) Away Goals scored; 9) Play-off.

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches.
In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards.

Team ╲ Round1234567891011121314
Al-Akhdar111111
Al-Sadaqa433222
Shabaab al Jabal354633
Al-Ahly Benghazi6710344
Al-Nasr7811775
Al-Hilal267886
Nojom Ajdabiya525457
Al Ta'awon842568
Al-Tahaddy111181199
Darnes910691010
Khaleej Sirte12129101111
Al-Anwar10912121212
Leader
Championship Play-Off
Relegation to First Division
Source:

Results
Home \ Away AHB ALAK ALAN ALH ALN ALS ALTA ALTH DAR KSI NAJ SAJ
Al-Ahly Benghazi — 0–0 1–0 5–0 2–1 1–0
Al Akhdar — 1–0 1–0 2–1
Al-Anwar — 0–1
Al-Hilal — 1–0 2–1 1–0
Al-Nasr 1–0 — 0–0 2–1 2–0
Al-Sadaqa 1–1 1–0 1–0 — 2–2
Al Ta'awon 0–0 2–0 — 1–1
Al-Tahaddy 0–1 1–0 1–1 — 0–0 1–2
Darnes 0–1 0–1 —
Khaleej Sirte 0–0 1–2 — 0–0
Nojoom Ajdabiya 1–2 —
Shabaab al Jabal 1–1 1–0 2–1 0–0 —
Updated to match(es) played on 2 March 2019. Source: Goalzz
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Al-Ittihad 10 7 1 2 16 5 +11 22 Qualification for Championship playoff
2 Asswehly 8 6 0 2 16 11 +5 18
3 Al-Ahly Tripoli 10 5 3 2 14 9 +5 18
4 Al-Madina 8 4 4 0 8 3 +5 16
5 Al-Wahda 10 4 3 3 7 7 0 15
6 Abu Salem 9 2 6 1 5 2 +3 12
7 Al-Khums 10 3 3 4 4 7 −3 12
8 Al-Ittihad Misurata 9 2 4 3 11 9 +2 10
9 Olympic Azzawea 10 2 4 4 10 11 −1 10
10 Aschat 10 0 6 4 2 10 −8 6
11 Al-Mahalla 10 0 6 4 1 9 −8 6 Relegation to Libyan First Division
12 Rafik 10 0 4 6 5 16 −11 4
Updated to match(es) played on 4 April 2019. Source: kooora.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Head-to-head away goals scored; 6) Goal difference; 7) Goals scored; 8) Away Goals scored; 9) Play-off.

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches.
In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards.

Team ╲ Round12345678910111213141516171819202122
Asswehly21222211
Al-Madina33333332
Al-Ittihad65611123
Al-Ahly Tripoli5121288444
Al-Wahda44155655
Abu Salem119544566
Al-Ittihad Misurata12477887
Al-Khums76766778
Olympic Azzaweya9711111012129
Aschat810999101010
Rafik108812129911
Al-Mahalla1211101011111112
Leader
Championship Play-Off
Relegation to First Division
Source:

Results
Home \ Away ABS AHT ALI ALIM ALK ALMD ALMH ALW ASH ASW OAZ RAF
Abu Salem — 0–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
Al-Ahly Tripoli — 3–2 0–1 0–0 1–0 3–2
Al-Ittihad 0–3 2–1 — 0–1 3–0
Al-Ittihad Misurata — 2–0 4–0 0–1 2–2
Al-Khums 0–0 — 1–0
Al-Madina 2–1 —
Al-Mahalla 0–0 — 0–1
Al-Wahda 1–0 0–2 1–1 0–0 — 2–0
Aschat 1–3 0–0 0–0 — 0–0
Asswehly 0–3 2–0 2–0 2–1 — 3–2 4–2
Olympic Azzawea 0–1 0–0 — 3–0
Rafik 1–1 0–0 1–2 1–1 —
Updated to match(es) played on 3 March 2019. Source: Goalzz
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Scoring
  • First goal of the season:
    Ashour Shaglof for Al-Sadaqa against Nojom Ajdabiya (28 November 2018)

Top goalscorers
As of 2 February 2019
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Autemar Asswehly 4
Moataz Al-Mehdi Al-Nasr
3 Alshamakh Gaddafi Al Ta'awon 3
Jebrel Mersal Al-Ahly Benghazi
Salem Roma Al-Ittihad
Elmutasem Abushnaf Al-Madina
7 Ashour Shaglouf Al-Sadaqa 2
Ahmed Al-Kadiri Al-Ittihad Misurata
Abdulraheem Al-Amari Nojom Ajdabiya
Mohammed Alghaneme Al-Wahda
Naji Shweqi Nojom Ajdabiya
Abdullah Al-Eirfe Al-Ahly Benghazi

Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstResultDateRound
Jebril Mersal Al-Ahly Benghazi Al Ta'awon 5-0 (H) 31 December 2018 1
Note

(H) – Home ; (A) – Away

Number of teams by City
Number of teams City Team(s)
7 Tripoli Abu Salem, Al-Ahly Tripoli, Al-Ittihad, Al-Madina, Al-Mahalla,
Al-Wahda and Aschat
4 Benghazi Al-Ahly Benghazi, Al-Hilal, Al-Nasr and Al-Tahaddy
2 Ajdabiya Al Ta'awon and Nojom Ajdabiya
Misurata Asswehly and Al-Ittihad Misurata
Shahhat Al-Sadaqa and Shabaab al Jabal
1 Al-Abyar Al-Anwar
Al-Khums Al-Khums
Bayda Al-Akhdar
Derna Darnes
Sirte Khaleej Sirte
Sorman Rafik
Zawiya Olympic Azzaweya

References
  1. "2018/19 Libyan Premier League draw and first fixture matches". Al-Nabaa Sports. 30 October 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  2. "Tripoli and Benina Stadium are excluded from hosting matches before finishing maintenance processes". The Libyan Observer. 30 October 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
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