The 2009–10 Libyan Premier League (known as the Libyana Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is the 43rd edition of the competition since its establishment in 1963. A total of 14 clubs contested the league, with Ittihad Tripoli the defending champions.

This has been reduced from the system of 16 teams that had been in place since the 2007–08 season. The season was scheduled to begin on 1 October 2009, but was later postponed until 8 October 2009. The season was scheduled to finish on 14 May 2010. However, this was later delayed to 1 June due to CAF fixtures and national team commitments.

The fixture list was released on 4 September 2009.

The league paused for its mid-season break on 13 January 2010 and continued on 28 January 2010.

There was another break after Round 16 (19 February – 22 March), due to the national team's fixtures, and CAF competition. Next season, the league will be reduced again and this time to 12 teams.

Summary

Ittihad secured their 16th top flight title with three games to spare after a 2–0 home win over Najma on 18 May 2010. This was their sixth league title in succession and their eighth in the last nine seasons.

Ahly Tripoli were expelled from the league and had their record for the second half of the season expunged on 17 May 2010. Having failed to show for two successive matches in protest at unfair treatment spanning a number of years from the Libyan Football Federation, which was sparked by their 1–2 home defeat to bitter rivals Ittihad, they vowed not to compete in competitions run by the LFF. As a result, they were relegated to the Libyan Second Division, meaning each side would now play only 25 games. Tahaddy became the second side to be relegated on 22 May, after Shat, Olomby, Sweahly and Najma all won their respective matches on that day. Due to their inferior head-to-head record, even a victory against Shat on the final day would not have seen them avoid the drop. Their relegation was confirmed after their 3–1 win over Hilal was awarded 2–0 to Hilal after it was discovered Tahaddy had played a suspended player.

In one of the tightest relegation battles in recent history, Sweahly, Olomby, Shat and Najma all started the final round of fixtures within two points of each other, and all facing the danger of the drop. Sweahly hosted Ittihad, Shat were at home to already relegated Tahaddy, Najma travelled to Tersanah, who had secured their safety the previous week, and Olomby faced Nasr at Zaawia Stadium. Olomby went behind early on to Salem al Rewani's spot kick, before equalising on 31 minutes through Aymen Rhifi and Najma took the lead on the half-hour through Chakib Lachkhem's penalty. Sweahly went in front against a much weakened Ittihad side through ex-Ittihad defender Keba Paul Koulibaly's penalty on 43 minutes. At the break, it was Olomby who would be relegated. Shat scored two goals in the first two minutes of the second period against Tahaddy, and added a further two goals for a comfortable 4–0 victory. Najma held on against a lacklustre Tersanah side, meaning they needed Nasr to hold Olomby to face a relegation playoff. Sweahly faced a scare when Saami al Ghoula equalised on 72 minutes, but Tunisian forward Jemail Khemir put them back in front three minutes later, ensuring their survival. With time running out, Rhifi netted on 82 minutes to send the Second Division champions down. Olomby now face a two-legged playoff against Wahda for a place in next season's Premier League.

Teams

As the league reduced in size from 16 to 14 teams, four teams were relegated from last season's competition. These four teams were Aman al Aam, Wefaq Sabratha, Jazeera and Wahda Tripoli. Newly promoted Aman al Aam lasted just one season, though a spirited fightback towards the end of the season meant that their fate was sealed only on the final day, when Hilal got the point they needed to survive. Wefaq Sabratha, another of the newly promoted clubs, were relegated despite a decent start to season. However, a 15-game winless run left them languishing in the relegation zone, and they failed to recover. Jazeera ended their two-year stint in the top flight with a poor showing, losing 20 of their 30 games, and despite a decent run of form towards the back end of the season, it was too little too late. Wahda were rooted to the bottom of the table for the whole season, and did not win a game until a 2–1 away victory at Al Shat in mid-May. Their return of 11 points from 30 games one of the worst in Libyan history.

Only two clubs were promoted from the Libyan Second Division; Najma finished as champions (see Libyan Second Division 2008-09 - Championship Stage), while Tahaddy secured their return to the top flight after a one-year absence.

Stadia & Locations

2009–10 Libyan Premier League is located in Libya
Location of teams in 2009–10 Libyan Premier League
TeamLocationSha'biyahStadiumCapacity
AhlyBenghaziBenghaziMartyrs of February Stadium10,550
AhlyTripoliTripoli11 June Stadium65,000
AkhdarBaydaJabal al AkhdarGreen Document Stadium10,000
HilalBenghaziBenghaziMartyrs of February Stadium10,550
IttihadTripoliTripoli11 June Stadium65,000
Khaleej SirteSirteSirte2 March Stadium2,000
MadinaTripoliTripoli11 June Stadium65,000
NajmaBenghaziBenghaziMartyrs of February Stadium10,550
Al-NasrBenghaziBenghaziMartyrs of February Stadium10,550
OlombyZawiyaZawiyaZaawia Stadium6,000
Al-ShatTripoliTripoliGMR Stadium20,000
SweahlyMisrataMisrata9 July Stadium10,000
TahaddyBenghaziBenghaziMartyrs of February Stadium10,550
TersanahTripoliTripoliGMR Stadium20,000

League table

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification or relegation
1Ittihad (C)2515644527+18512011 CAF Champions League
2Ahly Benghazi2514473927+1245
3Khaleej Sirte2513574731+1644
4Madina2581343127+437
5Akhdar259882930−135
6Nasr25104113830+8342011 CAF Confederation Cup
7Hilal2596102933−433
8Tersanah2586113336−330
9Sweahly2586112737−1030
10Shat2585122536−1129
11Olomby (O)2578103336−329Relegation Playoff
12Najma (R)2584132331−828Relegation to 2010–11 Libyan Second Division
13Tahaddy (R)2545162149−2817
14Ahly Tripoli (R)136432010+1022

Positions by round

NB: Note: The classification was made after the weekend of each matchday, so postponed matches were only processed at the time they were played to represent the real evolution in standings. These postponed matches are:

Team ╲ Round12345678910111213141516171819202122232425
Ahly Benghazi89141391011986422223434443332
Ahly Tripoli11754235632533332222235141414
Akhdar4345323247776676888788645
Hilal1311119786324257767677877777
Ittihad1221111111111111111111111
Khaleej Sirte101381213118875344444343322223
Madina810107664553665555566666564
Najma1114131189101112121212121212121213121010991212
Nasr1112442468899898755554456
Olomby13111114141414141413131313131314141414141312121111
Shat6678121312121011111089899910121211111010
Sweahly443355779109810101010111191111131099
Tahaddy38910111213131314141414141413131213131414131313
Tersanah65661079101191011111111111010119910888

Results

Home \ AwayAHLBAHLTAKHHILITTKHAMADNAJNSROLYSHTSWETHDTER
Ahly Benghazi0–02–12–10–20–20–02–12–12–31–01–12–05–0
Ahly Tripoli0–13–03–02–03–03–2
Akhdar2–12–12–02–22–32–21–01–01–01–01–13–12–2
Hilal0–11–21–11–02–20–10–22–23–22–22–01–2
Ittihad3–12–13–01–12–13–32–03–03–20–13–13–01–5
Khaleej Sirte1–12–21–04–02–32–21–02–13–24–12–22–32–0
Madina0–11–12–00–00–01–10–12–22–11–02–01–12–1
Najma2–51–10–10–11–00–11–04–30–13–01–22–2
Nasr3–10–12–02–13–14–13–10–01–11–01–23–30–1
Olomby1–30–00–01–20–22–11–11–12–11–12–10–13–1
Shat0–22–11–31–20–41–12–11–31–03–34–01–1
Sweahly0–12–11–02–11–30–12–11–00–00–10–22–1
Tahaddy1–21–11–20–00–21–30–10–41–30–11–22–2
Tersanah2–10–01–20–10–13–00–12–11–20–02–12–0

Relegation playoff

The second-placed team in the Libyan Second Division Promotion Stage, Wahda, faced a two-legged play-off match against the 11th placed team in the Premier League, Olomby for a place in the Premier League next season. The draw was made on 2 June. The matches took place on 5 and 9 June, with Olomby winning 3–1 on aggregate and retaining their place in the top flight for next season.

Wahda0 – 1Olomby
Rhifi 31'
Olomby2 – 1Wahda
Qarearah 45+1' Rhifi 76'Aktouba 44'

Olomby won 3–1 on aggregate

Season statistics

Top Scorers

Updated 28 April 2010

RankScorerClubGoals
1Senegal Sheikh SedaoKhaleej Sirte11
Libya Ahmed Krawa'aTersanah
3Ivory Coast Stefan de PaulMadina10
Morocco Rasheed al DeasyShat
5Libya Ahmed ZuwayIttihad9
6Libya Achour MajeedKhaleej Sirte8
7Nigeria Ndubuisi EzeNasr7
Libya Samir al WahajAhly Benghazi
Libya Mohammad al MaghrabiAhly Tripoli

Overall

Home

Away

Clean Sheets

Scoring

Discipline

Continental Competitions

2009 North African Cup Winners Cup

  • Semi-finals

Morocco FAR Rabat - Ahly Benghazi W (0–0, 0–1) 1–0 on aggregate

  • Final

Ahly Benghazi L - CS Sfaxien (a) Tunisia (1–1, 0–0 ) 1–1 on aggregate

2009 North African Cup of Champions

  • Semi-finals

Tunisia ES Tunis - Ittihad Tripoli L (2–1, 2–2) 4–3 on aggregate

2010 CAF Champions League

2010 CAF Confederation Cup

See also

NB: Registration required for access to archived articles at

External links

  • for information, results and fixtures (in Arabic)