# 2023–24 Lebanese Premier League

The 2023–24 Lebanese Premier League was the 62nd season of the Lebanese Premier League, the top Lebanese league for football clubs since its establishment in 1934. The league started on 4 August 2023, and ended on 30 June 2024.
It was the fourth season to feature a "split" format, following its introduction in the 2020–21 season, in which the season is divided into two phases. Nejmeh won their ninth title after defeating Ansar in the last matchday. Tripoli and Ahly Nabatieh were relegated to the Lebanese Second Division.

## Summary
### Regulations

Each club had to involve one player under the age of 21 for at least 750 minutes, and two players for 1,000 combined minutes. In case a club were not able to meet the required number of minutes at the end of the season, they would have had three points deducted from their total in the league.
Starting from this season, each club was able to have four foreign players under contract, an increase from the previous limit of three. Furthermore, video assistant referee (VAR) was introduced to the Lebanese Premier League in the second half of the 2023–24 season. It used technology and officials to assist the referee in making decisions on the pitch. The match between Ahed and Racing Beirut in the first matchday, on 6 August 2023, was the first to test the use of VAR.

### Format

Following its introduction in the 2020–21 season, the 2023–24 season consisted of two phases: in the first phase, each team played against one another once. In the second phase, the 12 teams were divided into two groups based on their position in the first phase. As introduced in the 2022–23 season, teams only carried over half of their point tally from the first phase. After the first phase was completed, clubs could not move out of their own half in the league, even if they achieved more or fewer points than a higher or lower ranked team, respectively.
The top six teams played against each other three times, contrary to the previous two seasons where they played each other twice. Due to a restructuring of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) competitions, the champion automatically qualified to the newly introduced third-tier competition: the AFC Challenge League. The bottom six teams also played against each other three times, with the bottom two teams being relegated to the Lebanese Second Division.

## Teams

Twelve teams competed in the league – the top ten teams from the previous season and the two teams promoted from the Lebanese Second Division. The promoted teams were Racing Beirut, who returned to the top flight after an absence of four years, and Ahly Nabatieh, who were playing their first season in the Lebanese Premier League. They replaced Akhaa Ahli Aley and Salam Zgharta, who were relegated to the Lebanese Second Division after respective spells of seven and one years in the top flight.

### Stadiums and locations

    Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Ahed | Beirut (Ouzai) | Al Ahed Stadium | 2,000 |
| Ahly Nabatieh | Nabatieh | Kfarjoz Municipal Stadium | 2,000 |
| Ansar | Beirut (Tariq El Jdideh) | Ansar Stadium | — |
| Bourj | Beirut (Bourj el-Barajneh) | Bourj el-Barajneh Stadium | 1,500 |
| Chabab Ghazieh | Ghazieh | Kfarjoz Municipal Stadium | 2,000 |
| Nejmeh | Beirut (Ras Beirut) | Rafic Hariri Stadium | 5,000 |
| Racing Beirut | Beirut (Achrafieh) | Fouad Chehab Stadium | 5,000 |
| Safa | Beirut (Wata El Msaytbeh) | Safa Stadium | 4,000 |
| Sagesse | Beirut (Achrafieh) | Sin El Fil Stadium | — |
| Shabab Sahel | Beirut (Haret Hreik) | Shabab Al Sahel Stadium | — |
| Tadamon Sour | Tyre | Sour Municipal Stadium | 6,500 |
| Tripoli | Tripoli | Tripoli Municipal Stadium | 10,000 |

### Foreign players

Lebanese clubs were allowed to have four foreign players at their disposal at any time, as well as unlimited Palestinian players born in Lebanon in a given match sheet (of which only one allowed among the eleven players on the field). Moreover, each club competing in an AFC competition was allowed to field two extra foreign players, to be only played in continental matches, as the AFC allowed six foreign players to play in the starting eleven (one of whom from an AFC country).
* Players in bold were registered during the mid-season transfer window.
* Players in italics left the club during the mid-season transfer window.
| Team | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Palestinian player(s) | AFC player(s) | Former players |
| Ahed | Mohammad Al Marmour | Lee Erwin | Mohammad Al Hallak | Diaa Al Mohammad | | | Mohammad Abu Hasheesh |
| Ahly Nabatieh | Godfred Yeboah | Ifeanyi Eze | Hamza Zaak | Raafat Mehtdi | | — | Opaleye Brown Baye Daour Badji |
| Ansar | Elhadji Malick Tall | Ichaka Diarra | Abdallah Yaisien | Hichem Houssam Eddine | Mohamad Hebous Hamza Hussein | — | Yacouba Doumbia Foudil Bouchentouf Idriss Omar Zekri |
| Bourj | Ahmad Al Saleh | Houssem Louati | Prosper Donkor | Tidiane Camara | | — | |
| Chabab Ghazieh | Chris-Calvin Nawatta | Amissah Anfoh Assan | Yaw Dasi Obuoba | Abdulai Ibrahim | Ayman Abou Sahyoun | — | Ezra Amelinsa Joshua Abah |
| Nejmeh | Giorgi Kantaria | Vítor Barata | Artiom Litveacov | Everton | Zaher Al Samahi | | Gilson Costa Omid Popalzay Dmytro Bilonoh José Embaló |
| Racing Beirut | Lazar Arsić | Brel Mohendiki | Roland Okouri | Yann Mokombo | Jehad Abou El Aynein | — | Shodai Tomemori |
| Safa | Johan Kappelhof | Arnold Suew | Sebastian Jakubiak | Danin Talović | Adnan Salloum | — | Jordy Bruijn Marco Reinhardt |
| Sagesse | Papa Sidibe | Vinícius Calamari | Boucounta Sarr | Papy Thiandoum | | — | Adramé Diallo |
| Shabab Sahel | Richard Baffour | Andrew Ikefe | Emmanuel Obere | Samad Kadiri | Hadi Dakwar | — | Francis Nwankwo Fallou Galass Wade |
| Tadamon Sour | El Mehdi Boukassi | Madikaba Doumbia | Alex Ngonga | Kévin Koubemba | Mohammad Ismail Ghassan Sarriyeh Jihad Hallak | — | Osman Konate Ibrahim Sauma Oussai Oddo |
| Tripoli | James Innocent | Suleiman Abu Zam'a | Gerônimo | Thiago Amaral | Omar Kayed Ibrahim Abdelwahhab | — | Sharif Sibaii |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Nejmeh (C) | 26 | 19 | 3 | 4 | 44 | 20 | +24 | 46 | Qualification for the AFC Challenge League group stage |
| 2 | Ansar | 26 | 16 | 7 | 3 | 55 | 24 | +31 | 45 | |
| 3 | Ahed | 26 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 54 | 22 | +32 | 36 | |
| 4 | Safa | 26 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 35 | 38 | −3 | 26 | |
| 5 | Bourj | 26 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 26 | 32 | −6 | 25 | |
| 6 | Racing Beirut | 26 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 29 | 50 | −21 | 12 | |
| 7 | Shabab Sahel | 26 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 30 | 23 | +7 | 32 | |
| 8 | Tadamon Sour | 26 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 16 | 28 | −12 | 26 | |
| 9 | Sagesse | 26 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 21 | 30 | −9 | 24 | |
| 10 | Chabab Ghazieh | 26 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 22 | 41 | −19 | 23 | |
| 11 | Ahly Nabatieh (R) | 26 | 5 | 10 | 11 | 16 | 32 | −16 | 22 | Relegation to Lebanese Second Division |
| 12 | Tripoli (R) | 26 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 21 | 29 | −8 | 21 | Relegation to Lebanese Second Division |
* ↑ Teams played each other once (11 matches), before the league was split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) where each team played the other teams in their group three times (15 matches). Teams carried over half their point tally from the first phase into the second phase.

## Season statistics
### Goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Elhadji Malick Tall | Ansar | 20 |
| 2 | Karim Darwich | Ahed | 12 |
| 3 | Mohamad Kdouh | Safa | 10 |
| 3 | Lee Erwin | Ahed | 10 |
| 5 | Hassan Maatouk | Ansar | 8 |
| 5 | Mohammad Al Marmour | Ahed | 8 |
| 5 | Samad Kadiri | Shabab Sahel | 8 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Jordy Bruijn | Safa | Sagesse | 3–1 | 19 August 2023 |
| Lee Erwin | Ahed | Shabab Sahel | 5–0 | 24 September 2023 |
| Mohamad Kdouh | Safa | Tadamon Sour | 4–1 | 4 November 2023 |
| Samad Kadiri | Shabab Sahel | Ahly Nabatieh | 5–0 | 9 May 2024 |