Qatar Stars League

There are 2 divisions in the Qatari football structure and the league has previously seen one club promoted and relegated each year except in expansion seasons. The Qatar Stars League, previously known as the Q-League currently features 14 teams, with the 2nd division featuring 18 teams. The top four clubs at the end of the regular league system participate in the Qatar Crown Prince Cup, which was formed in the 1994/95 season.[1]

The Qatar Stars League has slowly expanded since the turn of the decade moving from 9 clubs to 10 clubs, and then latest setup of 12 clubs for the Qatari League 2009-10 campaign. It was announced that in the 2013-14 season, the number of clubs in the top division would increase to 14, whereas the second division would increase to 18 clubs which includes the reserve teams of the top division clubs.[2]

There are currently 4 official amateur football leagues in Qatar. Three amateur leagues are under the jurisdiction of the Qatar Community Football League (QCFL), established by the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, and the fourth, known as the Qatar Amateur League (QAL) is recognized by the QFA. Inaugurated in November 2013,[3] the QAL has 14 teams, all of which were established through the country's government, political and social sectors.[4]

It was announced on 15 April 2009 that no clubs would be relegated from the top flight in the 2008–09 Qatar Stars League season, due to expansion reasons, however the announcement was made with only one game remaining.[5] That year, the top league expanded to 12 clubs. In May 2013, the QFA again expanded the league by two more teams, bringing the total number of clubs in the first division to 14.[6]

The first unofficial season of the Qatar Stars League was the 1963–64 season, 3 years after the formation of the QFA. Similarly, a second division was also created during this time. For many years, there was no promotion or relegation system.[7]

In 1972–73, the first official season was played.[8] Al Estaqlal, now known as Qatar SC, won the first championship.

The first time there was a playoff for the championship was in 1980, between Al Sadd and Al Arabi. Al Sadd won the match 1–0.[7]

Although a second division had been in place for some time, there was no relegation or promotion system. However, in 1981, such a system was put in place for the first time. Five clubs participated in the second division that year.[7]

In 1984–85, there was no relegation or promotion due to the participation of a majority of the Qatari players within the national team, who were then preparing for the qualification rounds of the 1986 FIFA World Cup.[7]

In 1994, for one season, the QFA launched a new system where matches ending in draws would end in a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner. This was put in place in an effort to improve attendance.[7]

Three second division clubs were dissolved in the 1990 season: Al Nasr, Al Tadamon, and Al Nahda. Many of their players were distributed to first division clubs and became prominent players in Qatari football history, such as Fahad Al Kuwari, Ahmed Al Kuwari and Hamad Al Khalifa. After the dissolution of these clubs, there was no longer any relegation or promotion for five years. In 1995/96, the second division was brought back with five clubs, while there ten clubs participating in the first division.[7]

Another method the QFA attempted to develop the league was allocating each Q-League club with a sum of $10,000,000 to buy big-name foreign players in order to increase popularity in 2003. It succeeded, and players such as Ronald and Frank de Boer, Pep Guardiola, and Gabriel Batistuta soon appeared in the league.[9]

In addition, in 2004, the Aspire Academy was formed, which provides world-class training facilities to young people in order to not only improve the footballing standard in Qatar, but internationally. Many notable players have graduated from the academy, including Abdelkarim Hassan, Saad Al Sheeb, and Ibrahim Majid.[10]

In 2009, no clubs were relegated from the top division. Due to the recent formation of Lekhwiya and El Jaish, this meant that the second division would lose two clubs while two more clubs would enter the first division, bringing the total number of clubs in the first division to 12, and the second division to 6.[5] As part of the expansion campaign, the "Q-League" changed its name to what it is currently known as, "Qatar Stars League",[11] and inaugurated a new domestic cup, the "Qatari Stars Cup".[12]

Table as of 2020–21 Season:

• Al-Maref, a club representing the Ministry of Education and composed entirely of foreigners, was dissolved in 1966-67 by decision of the QFA and its players distributed to other clubs;[13]
• In 1971–72 Al-Wehda and Al-Tahrir merged into Al-Arabi SC;[13]
• In 1971–72 Al-Ahli and Al-Najha merged into Al Ahli SC;[13]
• In 1971–72 Al-Oruba and Al Nasour merged into Al-Esteqlal, which was renamed Qatar SC again in 1981[13]
• Al-Qadisiya renamed as Al-Sailiya SC in 2003[14]
• Al Ittihad Doha renamed as Al-Gharafa SC in 2004[15]
• Al-Hilal renamed as Al Kharaitiyat SC in 2004[16]
• Al-Tadamun renamed as Umm Salal SC in 2004[17]
• Al-Ittifaq renamed as Al-Markhiya in 2004[18]
• Al-Shoala renamed as Al-Mesaimeer in 2004[19]
• Al-Nasr renamed as Al-Shahania in 2004[20]
• Al-Shabab renamed as Muaither SC in 2004[21]

The champions are:[13]

Most successful clubs

Al Sadd are the most successful team in the league

#	Club	Champions
1	Al-Sadd SC	14
2	Qatar SC	8
3	Al-Rayyan SC	8
4	Al-Gharafa SC	7
5	Al-Arabi SC	7
6	Al-Duhail SC	7
7	Al-Maref	3
8	Al-Wakrah SC	2

An award system was developed in 2006 in which the best player and coach of the footballing season are selected by a panel of journalists. Each award winner receives $100,000.[22][23] There are also awards for youth players and club staff.

Year	Player of the Year	Club	Manager of the Year	Club
2006[22]	Sebastián Soria	Al Gharafa	Jorge Fossati	Al Sadd
2007[22]	Emerson Sheik	Al Sadd	Jorge Fossati	Al Sadd
2008[22]	Aziz Ben Askar	Umm Salal	Marcos Paquetá	Al Gharafa
2009[22]	Leonardo Pisculichi	Al Arabi	Sebastião Lazaroni	Qatar SC
2010[22]	Juninho Pernambucano	Al Gharafa	Caio Júnior	Al Gharafa
2011[22]	Bakari Koné	Lekhwiya	Abdullah Mubarak	Al Ahli
2012[24]	Rodrigo Tabata	Al-Rayyan	Diego Aguirre	Al-Rayyan
2013[25]	Khalfan Ibrahim	Al Sadd	Hussein Amotta	Al Sadd
2014	Nadir Belhadj	Al Sadd	Sami Trabelsi	Al-Sailiya SC
2015	Hassan Al-Haydos	Al Sadd	Michael Laudrup	Lekhwiya SC
2016	Rodrigo Tabata	Al-Rayyan	Jorge Fossati	Al-Rayyan
2017	Nam Tae-hee	Lekhwiya	Jesualdo Ferreira	Al Sadd
2018	Youssef Msakni	Al-Duhail SC	Djamel Belmadi	Al-Duhail SC
2019	Akram Afif	Al Sadd	Jesualdo Ferreira	Al Sadd

Source:[26]

Year		Best scorers	Team	Goals
1972–73		Awodh Hassan	Al-Esteqlal	10
1973–74	unknown
1974–75	Not held
1975–76		Jamal Al Khatib	Al-Esteqlal	8
1976–77	unknown
1977–78	unknown
1978–79		Hassan Mattar	Al-Sadd SC	11
1979–80		Hamdan Hamed Badr Bilal Sharif Abdul-Hamed	Al Ahli SC Al-Sadd SC Qatar SC	?
1980–81		Hassan Mattar	Al-Sadd SC	9
1981–82		Mansoor Muftah	Al-Rayyan SC	19
1982–83		Mansoor Muftah	Al-Rayyan SC	10
1983–84		Mansoor Muftah	Al-Rayyan SC	7
1984–85		Ahmed Yaqoub	Al-Arabi SC	7
1985–86		Mansoor Muftah	Al-Rayyan SC	20
1986–87		Hassan Sabela	Al Ahli SC	9
1987–88		Hassan Jowhar	Al-Sadd SC	11
1988–89		Farshad Pious	Al Ahli SC	9
1989–90		Marco Antônio	Al-Arabi SC	10
1990–91		Mahmoud Soufi Adel Khamis Hassan Sabela	Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad Al Ahli SC	10
1991–92		Mubarak Mustafa Rabeh Madjer	Al Arabi SC Qatar SC	8
1992–93		Mubarak Mustafa	Al Arabi SC	9
1993–94		Ahmed Radhi	Al-Wakrah SC	16
1994–95		Mohammed Salem Al-Enazi	Al-Rayyan SC	9
1995–96		Ricky Owubokiri	Al-Arabi SC	16
1996–97		Mubarak Mustafa Alboury Lah	Al-Arabi SC Al Ahli SC	11
1997–98		Hussein Amotta Alboury Lah Cláudio Mendes Prates	Al-Sadd SC Al Ahli SC Al-Arabi SC	10
1998–99		Fabrice Akwa	Al-Wakrah SC	11
1999–2000		Mohammed Salem Al-Enazi	Al-Rayyan SC	14
2000–01		Mamoun Diop	Al-Wakrah SC	14
2001–02		Rachid Amrane	Al-Ittihad	16
2002–03		Rachid Rokki	Al-Khor SC	15
2003–04		Gabriel Batistuta	Al-Arabi SC	25
2004–05		Sonny Anderson	Al-Rayyan SC	20
2005–06		Carlos Tenorio	Al-Sadd SC	21
2006–07		Younis Mahmoud	Al-Gharafa SC	24
2007–08		Clemerson de Araújo	Al-Gharafa SC	27
2008–09		Magno Alves	Umm Salal SC	25
2009–10		Cabore Younis Mahmoud	Al-Arabi SC Al-Gharafa SC	21
2010–11		Younis Mahmoud	Al-Gharafa SC	15
2011–12		Adriano	El Jaish SC	18
2012–13		Sebastián Soria	Lekhwiya SC	19
2013–14		Dioko Kaluyituka	Al Ahli SC	22
2014–15		Dioko Kaluyituka	Al Ahli SC	25
2015–16		Abderrazak Hamdallah Rodrigo Tabata	El Jaish SC Al Rayyan	21
2016–17		Youssef El-Arabi	Al-Duhail SC	24
2017–18		Youssef El-Arabi	Al-Duhail SC	26
2018–19		Baghdad Bounedjah	Al-Sadd SC	39
2019–20		Yacine Brahimi Akram Afif	Al Rayyan SC Al-Sadd SC	15

By player

Rank	Player	Country	Titles	Seasons
1	Mansoor Muftah	Qatar	4	1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86
2	Mubarak Mustafa	Qatar	3	1991–92, 1992–93, 1996–97
2	Younis Mahmoud	Iraq	3	2006–07, 2009–10, 2010–11
4	Hassan Sabela	Qatar	2	1986–87, 1990–91
4	Alboury Lah	Senegal	2	1996–97, 1997–98
4	Mohammed Salem Al-Enazi	Qatar	2	1994–95, 1999–2000
4	Dioko Kaluyituka	Democratic Republic of the Congo	2	2013–14, 2014–15
4	Youssef El-Arabi	Morocco	2	2016–17, 2017–18
5	Baghdad Bounedjah	Algeria	1	2018–19

By country

Country	Players	Total
Qatar	24	15
Brazil	7	7
Morocco	5	4
Algeria	4	5
Senegal	3	2
Iraq	2	4
Democratic Republic of the Congo	2	1
Iran	1	1
Argentina	1	1
Egypt	1	1
Lebanon	1	1

• Football in Qatar
• Qatar national football team

• QSL Official website
• QFA Official website
• Qatar Stars League - worldfootball.net (multilingual)
• Qatar Stars League - goal.com
• Qatar Stars League - Hailoosport.com (Arabic)
• Qatar Stars League - Hailoosport.com
• Qatari Football on Twitter