Syrian Premier League

The Syrian Premier League (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. The Syrian Premier League was founded in 1966, unifying the local leagues that had existed previously. Seasons mostly run from August to May.

The first team to win the title was Al-Ittihad 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
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.

Qualification for Asian competitions
As of 7 December 2021

Qualification criteria for 2022
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.

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.

Stadiums and locations
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:

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

All time top goalscorers
Boldface indicates a player still active in Syrian Premier League.

League participation
As of 2022, 35 clubs have participated. The tallies since its establishment in 1966 until the end of the 2021–22 season.


 * 50 seasons: Al-Ittihad SC Aleppo

Records

 * The highest points average for the league champion: 64 points (Al-Karamah, 2007–2008 season).
 * The fastest goal in the history of the league was scored by Al-Majd player Samer Awad against Qardaha, the 2005-2006 season, after just 16 seconds.