The Lebanese First Division (), commonly known as the Lebanese Premier League (), is the top division of the Lebanese football league system. Established in 1934 and organized by the Lebanese Football Association (LFA), the Lebanese Premier League is one of the oldest in the Middle East, originally launched under the name Edmond Rubeiz Cup.
As of the 2026–27 season, the league features 12 clubs. Clubs play a 22-match home-and-away first phase before the league is divided into six-team championship and relegation groups. Half of each club's points from the first phase are carried over, and each club plays a further 10 matches in the second phase. The league champion qualifies for the AFC Challenge League, while the bottom two teams are relegated to the Lebanese Second Division. The league introduced Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology in 2023.
Prominent early clubs included Nahda (who won the first edition), Homenetmen, and Homenmen. In recent years, clubs such as Ahed, Ansar, and Nejmeh have dominated the competition. Ansar holds the record for most league titles with 16, including a streak of 11 consecutive championships between 1988 and 1999. Throughout its history, the league has experienced several interruptions due to political instability and conflict.
History
On 22 March 1933, representatives of 13 football clubs gathered in the Minet El Hosn district in Beirut to form the Lebanese Football Association (LFA). The Lebanese Premier League began in May 1934 as the Edmond Rubeiz Cup, in honour of Nahda player Edmond Rubeiz who had died of typhoid the previous year. The competition was held in a knockout format, with Nahda beating DPHB 7–1 in the final to win the inaugural competition.
Nahda, AUB, and DPHB shared the titles during the first decade of the league. Between the 1940s and 1960s Armenian clubs, mainly Homenetmen and Homenmen, were the most prominent in the Lebanese footballing scene. The two clubs shared 11 titles in 16 seasons between 1943 and 1969. Following a 12-year interruption of the league due to the Lebanese Civil War, Ansar dominated the league winning 11 consecutive league titles between 1988 and 1999. They set a Guinness World Record for most consecutive league titles, which has been since broken by Skonto of Latvia in 2002.
Nejmeh broke Ansar's streak, winning four out of five league titles between 2000 and 2005. Since the late 2000s, Ahed have emerged as the dominant force in Lebanese football. They won their inaugural league title in 2008 and have since been crowned champions a total of nine times. After having won the league title in 2019, Ahed became the three-time defending champions, a feat accomplished only one other time, by Ansar in 1992. Due to financial and political issues in the country, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, the LFA decided to cancel the ongoing 2019–20 season.
Competition format There are 12 clubs in the Lebanese Premier League. 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, followed by head-to-head points and head-to-head goal difference. If still equal, overall goal difference and then overall goals scored are taken into consideration. If teams remain tied, disciplinary points are considered.
Split Prior to the 2020–21 season, each club played the others twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 22 matches.
Starting from the 2020–21 season, the league adopted a split system in which the season was divided into two phases. In the first phase, each club played each other once, for a total of 11 matches, before the league was divided into a top six and a bottom six. In 2020–21, clubs played each team in their respective section once more, while from 2021–22 to 2022–23 they played each team twice. From the 2023–24 season, each club played the other teams in its section three times.
From the 2022–23 season, clubs carried over half of their points from the first phase into the second phase.
The format was changed for the 2025–26 season. The Lebanese Football Association announced that the regular phase would be played on a home-and-away basis, after which the clubs' points would be halved and the league divided into two final groups. The four highest-ranked clubs were to enter a championship group and the next four a relegation group, with both groups to be played on a home-and-away basis.
The announced format was altered during the season following the withdrawal of one of the participating clubs. The club completed 11 matches before withdrawing, and its remaining fixtures were cancelled. The Lebanese Football Association subsequently placed the club last and relegated it to the Lebanese Second Division.
As a result, the final stage of the 2025–26 season consisted of a four-team championship group and a three-team relegation group. The groups were played on a home-and-away basis, with each club in the championship group playing six additional matches and each club in the relegation group playing four. The points carried over from the regular phase were halved and rounded upwards.
For the 2026–27 season, the format was changed again. All 12 clubs play each other twice, once at home and once away, for 22 matches per club in the first phase. The league is then divided into a championship group for the top six clubs and a relegation group for the bottom six. Each club carries over half of its first-phase points, with a half point rounded up to a full point, and plays the other five clubs in its group twice for a further 10 matches.
Promotion and relegation A system of promotion and relegation has existed between the Lebanese Premier League and the Lebanese Second Division since 1935. In April 1935, Second Division clubs requested that a promotion system be implemented. It was proposed that, at the end of the season, every Second Division team seeking promotion to the First Division would have to play against three First Division teams and win all three matches. The First Division teams were required to have at least seven players from their previous season's squad.
The number of clubs relegated from the Lebanese Premier League varies according to the regulations adopted for each season. In the 2025–26 season, two clubs were relegated to the Lebanese Second Division, one following its withdrawal from the competition and the other through its final league position.
The LFA initially planned to reduce the First Division from 12 to 10 clubs for the 2027–28 season, which would have resulted in four clubs being relegated from the 2026–27 Premier League and two being promoted from the Second Division. In August 2026, however, the LFA Executive Committee reversed the decision and retained the 12-club format, restoring the system under which the bottom two First Division clubs are relegated.
Video assistant referee Video assistant referee (VAR) was introduced to the Lebanese Premier League during the second half of the 2023–24 season. It uses video technology and match officials to assist the referee in reviewing decisions during matches. A match between Ahed and Racing Beirut on 6 August 2023 was used to test the VAR system before its introduction.
Clubs
Champions
+Wins by season Season Champion11933–34Nahda 21934–35AUB 31935–36DPHB 41936–37AUB 51937–38AUB 61938–39DPHB 1939–4071940–41DPHB 81941–42Nahda 91942–43Nahda 101943–44Homenetmen 111944–45Homenmen 121945–46Homenetmen 131946–47Nahda 141947–48Homenetmen 151948–49Nahda 1949–50161950–51Homenetmen 1951 to 1953171953–54Homenmen No. Season Champion181954–55Homenetmen 191955–56Racing Beirut 201956–57Homenmen 1957 to 1960211960–61Homenmen 1961–62221962–63Homenetmen 1963–64231964–65Racing Beirut 1965–66241966–67Shabiba Mazraa 1967–68251968–69Homenetmen 261969–70Racing Beirut 1970 to 1972271972–73Nejmeh 1973–74281974–75Nejmeh 1975 to 1987291987–88Ansar No. Season Champion 1988–89301989–90Ansar 311990–91Ansar 321991–92Ansar 331992–93Ansar 341993–94Ansar 351994–95Ansar 361995–96Ansar 371996–97Ansar 381997–98Ansar 391998–99Ansar 401999–2000Nejmeh 2000–01412001–02Nejmeh 422002–03Olympic Beirut 432003–04Nejmeh 442004–05Nejmeh 452005–06Ansar 462006–07Ansar 472007–08Ahed No. Season Champion482008–09Nejmeh 492009–10Ahed 502010–11Ahed 512011–12Safa 522012–13Safa 532013–14Nejmeh 542014–15Ahed 552015–16Safa 562016–17Ahed 572017–18Ahed 582018–19Ahed 2019–20592020–21Ansar 602021–22Ahed 612022–23Ahed 622023–24Nejmeh 632024–25Ansar 642025–26Ansar
+Wins by clubClubWinsWinning seasonsAnsar 161987–88, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2020–21, 2024–25, 2025–26Ahed92007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2021–22, 2022–23Nejmeh1972–73, 1974–75, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2008–09, 2013–14, 2023–24Homenetmen71943–44, 1945–46, 1947–48, 1950–51, 1954–55, 1962–63, 1968–69Nahda51933–34, 1941–42, 1942–43, 1946–47, 1948–49Homenmen41944–45, 1953–54, 1956–57, 1960–61AUB31934–35, 1936–37, 1937–38DPHB1935–36, 1938–39, 1940–41Racing Beirut1955–56, 1964–65, 1969–70Safa2011–12, 2012–13, 2015–16Shabiba Mazraa11966–67Olympic Beirut2002–03
2026–27 season The following 12 clubs will compete in the Lebanese Premier League during the 2026–27 season. Mabarra, who had finished eighth in 2025–26, were originally due to participate but stopped their football activities on 2 September 2026, citing financial difficulties. Following an agreement between the clubs, Chabab Ghazieh took over Mabarra's position in the competition.
ClubHome cityPosition in 2025–26Top division titlesMost recent top division titleAhedBeirut 4th92022–23Akhaa Ahli AleyAley2nd in the Second Division0AnsarBeirut 1st162025–26JwayaJwaya3rd0MabarraBeirut 8th0NejmehBeirut 2nd92023–24Riyadi AbbasiyahAbbassiyeh9th0SafaBeirut 5th32015–16SagesseBeirut 6th0Shabab SahelBeirut 7th0Tadamon SourTyre10th0TripoliTripoli1st in the Second Division12002–03
Media coverage Broadcasting rights for the Lebanese Premier League were distributed to MTV Lebanon starting from the 2016–17 season, on a five-year contract worth $600,000 per season; the contract was renewed in 2022 for a further four seasons. Live coverage of three games is broadcast each week, and weekly highlights of each match are produced once a week. The LFA broadcast the other weekly games on its YouTube channel between 2020 and 2022.
In October 2022, the LFA and FIFA signed an agreement to show all matches in the Lebanese Second Division, Lebanese Super Cup and Lebanese Women's Football League through the FIFA+ platform; FIFA+ also replaced the LFA YouTube channel in transmitting the remaining Lebanese Premier League games not covered by MTV.
Stadiums
At the start of the 2005–06 season, the Lebanese government imposed a ban on spectators due to fears of political and sectarian-inspired violence in the stadiums. After six years, in 2011, the ban was lifted and fans were allowed to regularly attend matches. While attendance was initially scarce, spectators started to show up more regularly season after season. Indeed, in 2018 ultras groups started to form, with Nejmeh's "Ultras Supernova" being the first. Other teams quickly followed, such as Ansar, Ahed and Bourj.
Players Foreign players and transfer regulations Prior to the 2023–24 season, Lebanese clubs were permitted three foreign players on the field simultaneously. Additionally, up to two extra Palestinian players born in Lebanon could be listed on a match sheet, but only one Palestinian player was allowed among the eleven players on the field. Furthermore, each club competing in an AFC competition could field one additional foreign player exclusively for continental matches, as the AFC permitted four foreign players in the starting eleven, one of whom from an AFC country.