2000–01 Iraqi Elite League

The 2000–01 Iraqi Elite League was the 27th season of the competition since its foundation in 1974. The name of the league was changed from Iraqi First Division to Iraqi Elite League. Instead of relegating teams from the 1999–2000 season and promoting teams from the lower division in order to decide which teams were playing in the competition, the Iraq Football Association decided that every eligible team in the country from every division should play qualifying games in order to decide who participated.

Iraqi Premier League
Season2000–01
ChampionsAl-Zawraa
(10th title)
RelegatedAl-Kut
Karbalaa
2002–03 AFC Champions LeagueAl-Zawraa
Top goalscorerHussein Abdullah
(22 goals)

The qualifying rounds saw a total of 135 teams being split into regional groups, all competing for the 16 places in the league.[1] After all the qualifiers were over in December, the league competition itself was held with each team playing 30 matches. In the end, Al-Zawraa won their third league title in a row, finishing eight points clear at the top.[2][3]

Regional qualifiers

First round

In the first qualifying round, each province apart from Baghdad and Sulaymaniya had its own qualifying tournament with the winner advancing to the second qualifying round.

Province Winner Notes
Al-AnbarAl-Ramadi
Al-QadisiyaAl-Diwaniya
BabilAl-QasimAl-Qasim played Al-Hilla in a two-legged play-off which ended 1–1 on aggregate; Al-Qasim qualified on away goals. Other competing teams included Babil
BasraAl-MinaaAl-Minaa played Al-Basra in a two-legged play-off; both legs ended in draws and Al-Minaa won 1–0 via a golden goal in extra-time. Other competing teams included Al-Bahri and Al-Ittihad
Dhi QarAl-Nasiriya
DiyalaAl-KhalisOther competing teams included Diyala, who withdrew
DuhokDuhokOther competing teams included Zakho and Peris
ErbilErbil
KarbalaaKarbalaaOther competing teams included Al-Hindiya, Al-Jamahir and Al-Husseiniya
KirkukKirkuk
MaysanMaysanOther competing teams included Al-Amara
MuthannaAl-Samawa
NajafAl-Najaf
NinevehAl-MosulAl-Mosul played Al-Hikna in a two-legged play-off; both legs ended in draws and Al-Mosul qualified on away goals
SalahaddinSamaraaOther competing teams included Salahaddin
WasitAl-Kut
Baghdad – All 35 teams admitted directly to final qualifying round
Sulaymaniya – Al-Sulaymaniya admitted directly to final qualifying round

Second round

In the second qualifying round, which started in September and ended in December, the remaining teams were split into five regional groups. The two Baghdad groups were played in a single round-robin format (teams played each other once) while the other three groups were played in a double round-robin format (teams played each other twice).[4][5][6]

Central Group
TeamResult
Al-NajafQualified to League
Al-Ramadi
Karbalaa
Al-Khalis
Al-Qasim

South Group
TeamResult
Al-KutQualified to League
Al-Samawa
Al-Minaa
Maysan
Al-Nasiriya
Al-Diwaniya

North Group
TeamResult
DuhokQualified to League
Samaraa
Erbil
Kirkuk
Al-Mosul
Al-Sulaymaniya

Baghdad Group 1
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Al-Shorta 17 16 1 0 82 8 +74 49 Qualified to League
2 Al-Karkh 17 15 2 0 83 13 +70 47
3 Al-Zawraa 17 14 1 2 80 7 +73 43
4 Al-Jaish 17 12 2 3 42 16 +26 38 Qualified to Play-off
5 Al-Sinaa 17 10 4 3 42 20 +22 34
6 Al-Kadhimiya 17 9 5 3 40 14 +26 32
7 Al-Nahdha 17 8 4 5 32 27 +5 28
8 Al-Umal 17 7 5 5 38 29 +9 26
9 Al-Siyaha 17 8 1 8 22 33 −11 25
10 Al-Amana 17 6 6 5 39 32 +7 24
11 Al-Shabab 17 6 4 7 17 20 −3 22
12 Al-Bareed 17 5 3 9 23 47 −24 18
13 Al-Khutoot 17 5 2 10 24 41 −17 17
14 Al-Hudood 17 4 1 12 27 51 −24 13
15 Al-Adhamiya 17 1 3 13 15 75 −60 6
16 Tayaran Al-Jaish 17 1 2 14 10 55 −45 5
17 Al-Shaheed Dulaf 17 1 1 15 13 72 −59 4
18 Al-Madain 17 1 1 15 9 78 −69 4
Source: Al-Shameri Archive
Results
Home \ Away ADH AMN BRD HUD KDH KKH KHT JSH MDN NDH SHB SHD SHR SIN SIY UML ZWR TYJ
Al-Adhamiya 3–9 0–4 0–2 0–3 2–2 1–1
Al-Amana 8–0 1–1 5–4 3–3 4–1 2–1 5–2 0–2 1–1 2–2
Al-Bareed 2–1 4–2 1–1 1–0 2–0 1–3
Al-Hudood 1–1 0–3 0–1 1–2 1–0
Al-Kadhimiya 1–1 3–1 0–3 1–0 0–0 1–0 0–2
Al-Karkh 14–2 4–0 5–1 4–1 0–0 5–1 10–2 3–1 3–0 6–0 5–0 7–3 1–0 5–1
Al-Khutoot 5–0 1–2 1–0 0–0 2–0 1–7 0–1 3–0
Al-Jaish 5–1 2–1 6–3 3–1 0–5 4–2 5–0 0–0 1–0 6–0 0–1 5–0 0–2 1–0
Al-Madain 0–3 1–0 0–7 2–5 0–2 0–7 0–3
Al-Nahdha 4–1 1–1 3–0 1–5 3–1 1–1 4–1
Al-Shabab 1–1 1–0 1–1
Al-Shaheed Dulaf 1–2 0–5 4–2 0–2 1–3
Al-Shorta 8–0 2–1 7–1 10–1 4–1 0–0 4–0 4–1 8–1 4–0 6–0
Al-Sinaa 4–0 3–1 2–1 1–6 4–0 0–0 7–0 1–0 6–0 0–5 2–0 0–0 7–0
Al-Siyaha 2–1 4–0 0–5 0–1 3–0 1–4 0–2
Al-Umal 0–0 5–2 3–1 2–1 0–1 8–0 3–3 1–1 8–0 2–1
Al-Zawraa 7–0 3–0[lower-alpha 1] 7–0 7–0 11–1 4–0 4–0 6–0 0–1 5–1 6–1 6–0 8–0
Tayaran Al-Jaish 2–3 0–3 0–5 0–0 0–2 4–2 0–2
Source: Al-Shameri Archive
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. The Al-Zawraa–Al-Bareed match was awarded as a 3–0 win to Al-Zawraa after the game had originally ended in a 0–0 draw.

Baghdad Group 2
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Al-Talaba 16 15 0 1 82 4 +78 45 Qualified to League
2 Al-Naft 16 14 2 0 52 2 +50 44
3 Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 16 14 1 1 65 7 +58 43
4 Al-Difaa Al-Jawi 16 12 2 2 60 13 +47 38 Qualified to Play-off
5 Al-Shuala 16 9 1 6 28 18 +10 28
6 Al-Majd 16 7 3 6 36 23 +13 24
7 Haifa 16 7 3 6 21 24 −3 24
8 Al-Sulaikh 16 7 1 8 34 28 +6 22
9 Al-Mahmoudiya 16 6 4 6 13 25 −12 22
10 Tamouz 16 5 4 7 19 29 −10 19
11 Abu Ghraib 16 4 3 9 19 51 −32 15
12 Al-Qaqaa 16 4 3 9 15 49 −34 15
13 Al-Tijara 16 4 2 10 11 32 −21 14
14 Al-Hurriya 16 3 3 10 19 42 −23 12
15 Batal Al-Tahreer 16 3 1 12 15 52 −37 10
16 Al-Salama 16 3 1 12 16 58 −42 10
17 Al-Saqr Al-Arabi 16 1 2 13 13 61 −48 5
Source: Al-Shameri Archive
Results
Home \ Away ABU DIF HUR MAH MJD NFT QQA QWJ SLM SQR SHL SLK TLB TJR BTL HFA TMZ
Abu Ghraib 1–7 1–1 1–2 5–2 2–2 0–4 2–1 2–2
Al-Difaa Al-Jawi 2–1 1–1 11–0 2–0 0–2 3–0
Al-Hurriya 3–1 0–5 1–2 0–3 2–0 2–6 4–2
Al-Mahmoudiya 1–0 3–3 1–0 0–0 1–0 0–3 1–1 0–0 2–1
Al-Majd 1–0 0–1 4–0 5–3 7–2 3–0 1–1 1–1
Al-Naft 7–0 7–0 4–0 2–0 4–0 4–0 7–0 1–0 3–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 5–0
Al-Qaqaa 0–5 2–1 3–2 0–2 1–2
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 6–0 4–2 5–1 1–0 0–0 6–0 7–1 7–1 1–0 6–0 0–1 5–0 2–0
Al-Salama 0–1 3–1 0–10 1–0 2–2
Al-Saqr Al-Arabi 0–8 2–2 1–4 2–1 0–1
Al-Shuala 0–1 3–1 2–1 2–0 1–0 2–0 1–2 3–1 1–2
Al-Sulaikh 2–0 1–3 5–1 4–0 1–0 7–1 1–2
Al-Talaba 9–0 5–1 5–0 5–1 0–1 9–0 8–0 4–0 3–1 5–0 6–0 6–0 4–0
Al-Tijara 0–6 1–1 1–0 2–2 2–0 0–1
Batal Al-Tahreer 2–1 1–7 0–7 0–2 2–0 1–3 1–2
Haifa 1–2 1–2 3–2 3–0 2–1 4–4 1–0 0–1 1–0
Tamouz 1–2 0–2 0–0 2–2 1–5 4–0
Source: Al-Shameri Archive
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-off round

In the play-off round, the two fourth-placed teams from the Baghdad Groups faced off in a two-legged tie to determine the seventh qualifying team from Baghdad.

Al-Difaa Al-Jawi0–1Al-Jaish
Al-Jaish1–2Al-Difaa Al-Jawi

2–2 on aggregate. Al-Difaa Al-Jawi won on away goals and qualified for the League.

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Al-Zawraa (C) 30 23 1 6 80 24 +56 70 2002–03 AFC Champions League preliminary round 3[lower-alpha 1]
2 Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 30 18 8 4 53 24 +29 62
3 Al-Shorta 30 19 3 8 60 26 +34 60
4 Al-Talaba 30 17 9 4 42 22 +20 60
5 Duhok 30 16 7 7 44 24 +20 55
6 Al-Najaf 30 15 7 8 31 16 +15 52
7 Al-Karkh 30 14 8 8 48 33 +15 50
8 Al-Difaa Al-Jawi 30 13 9 8 33 29 +4 48
9 Al-Minaa 30 10 10 10 24 26 −2 40
10 Samaraa 30 10 6 14 34 49 −15 36
11 Al-Naft 30 8 10 12 31 40 −9 34
12 Erbil 30 6 11 13 24 46 −22 29
13 Al-Samawa 30 6 8 16 26 37 −11 26
14 Al-Ramadi 30 6 4 20 31 66 −35 22
15 Al-Kut 30 3 3 24 17 56 −39 12 Relegated to Iraq Division One
16 Karbalaa 30 3 2 25 16 76 −60 11
Source: Al-Shameri Archive
(C) Champion.
Notes:
  1. Iraq were given two slots for the 2002–03 AFC Champions League, therefore 2000–01 league champions Al-Zawraa were admitted to the qualifying round and 2001–02 league champions Al-Talaba entered the group stage.

Results
Home \ Away DIF KKH KUT MIN NFT NJF QWJ RMA SMA SHR TLB ZWR DHK ERB KRB SMR
Al-Difaa Al-Jawi 3–1 1–0 0–0 1–0 1–0 0–2 3–0 1–0 1–3 1–1 2–1 2–1 2–0 3–0 1–0
Al-Karkh 2–2 1–0 2–1 1–0 1–2 2–1 3–2 0–0 1–2 0–0 1–0 1–3 2–0 7–0 5–1
Al-Kut 1–1 2–1 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–1 2–1 1–0 0–3 0–1 1–6 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–2
Al-Minaa 1–0 1–4 2–0 1–0 0–1 0–0 2–2 1–0 1–1 3–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 1–0 0–0
Al-Naft 1–1 1–1 2–1 3–0 2–1 0–1 4–2 0–0 0–3 1–2 2–4 2–1 1–1 0–0 1–1
Al-Najaf 1–0 4–0 1–0 2–0 0–0 0–0 4–1 2–0 0–2 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–0 1–0 1–0
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 1–1 1–1 3–0 0–0 2–0 2–1 4–3 4–0 1–0 2–0 2–2 4–0 0–0 2–0 5–1
Al-Ramadi 0–1 1–2 2–1 1–2 1–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 0–2 0–2 1–0 0–3 2–2 1–0 1–2
Al-Samawa 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–1 1–3 0–0 0–1 9–0 0–0 1–3 1–3 0–0 1–0 1–0 2–0
Al-Shorta 2–2 0–1 5–1 1–0 1–0 3–0 1–2 1–0 3–0 2–3 2–1 2–1 5–1 2–0 1–3
Al-Talaba 1–1 1–1 3–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 3–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 0–1 2–2 0–0 3–0
Al-Zawraa 5–0 3–2 2–1 3–0 5–0 1–0 4–2 2–1 2–0 2–0 3–0 4–0 5–2 8–0 6–2
Duhok 2–0 1–0 1–1 2–0 4–0 0–0 1–1 2–0 2–0 3–0 0–2 0–1 2–0 5–1 2–0
Erbil 1–1 0–0 2–1 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–1 2–1 3–2 0–3 1–1 0–4 1–1 2–0 0–0
Karbalaa 0–1 0–3 3–2 0–2 0–2 0–3 1–5 2–4 0–3 0–7 1–3 0–1 1–3 0–1 5–1
Samaraa 1–0 1–1 2–0 1–0 2–2 1–0 2–3 4–0 1–1 0–3 0–1 0–1 1–2 3–1 2–1
Source: Al-Shameri Archive
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers
Pos Scorer Goals Team
1 Hussein Abdullah 22 Duhok
2 Ahmed Khudhair 19 Al-Shorta
3 Ammar Ahmad 14 Al-Zawraa

References
  1. "The Iraqi League with its new system kicks off December 25". Al-Awsat. 14 December 2000.
  2. Al-Sabti, Ali (2014). Iraqi League History 1974-2011. Iraq.
  3. Al-Munshi, Dr.Dhia (2005). Iraqi Football Encyclopedia: Chico.. Jamoli… and football in Iraq. Citadel Printing & Design, Al-Saadoun, Baghdad.
  4. "Baghdad draw". IraqSport. Archived from the original on 2000-10-22.
  5. "Next Monday, the Baghdad Groups will start". IraqSport. 31 August 2000.
  6. "Al-Talaba are champions of the second Baghdad group". IraqSport. Archived from the original on 2000-12-02.
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