# 2012–13 Iraqi Elite League

The 2012–13 Iraqi Elite League was the 39th season of the competition since its establishment in 1974. The season began on 19 October 2012 and finished on 4 September 2013. Al-Shorta were crowned champions for the third time, finishing on 72 points, two points ahead of nearest competitors Erbil.
Having only managed a seventh-place finish in the previous season, Al-Shorta's results improved significantly under the presidency of Ayad Bunyan and they were able to outperform favourites Erbil, Duhok, Al-Zawraa and Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya.
On the final day of the season, three teams were all still in the race for the title. Al-Shorta needed a win against Al-Talaba to secure the league, whilst Erbil had to defeat Al-Najaf and hope that Al-Shorta failed to win their game if they wanted to retain their title. Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya needed both Al-Shorta and Erbil to slip up and needed to defeat Masafi Al-Wasat by a large goal margin in order for them to go home with the trophy.
All three teams ended up winning their respective matches, making Al-Shorta the champions. It was the club's first league title since the 1997–98 season.

## SWAT incident

On 23 June 2013, after a match with Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, seven football players of Karbala and their manager were beaten by the anti-terror police. They used sticks and batons against the eight men.
Five of them were in critical condition, and on June 30, Mohammed Abbas Al-Jabouri, the club's manager, died in hospital. Several teams refused to play their matches in round 25 as a result of the incident.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Al-Shorta (C) | 34 | 20 | 12 | 2 | 62 | 29 | +33 | 72 | Qualification for the AFC Champions League preliminary round 1 |
| 2 | Erbil | 34 | 21 | 7 | 6 | 68 | 34 | +34 | 70 | Qualification for the AFC Cup group stage |
| 3 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 34 | 21 | 6 | 7 | 60 | 33 | +27 | 69 | |
| 4 | Al-Zawraa | 34 | 18 | 11 | 5 | 61 | 29 | +32 | 65 | |
| 5 | Duhok | 34 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 54 | 35 | +19 | 58 | |
| 6 | Baghdad | 34 | 13 | 14 | 7 | 36 | 28 | +8 | 53 | |
| 7 | Zakho | 34 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 48 | 41 | +7 | 52 | |
| 8 | Al-Minaa | 34 | 15 | 7 | 12 | 54 | 48 | +6 | 52 | |
| 9 | Al-Naft | 34 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 43 | 43 | 0 | 46 | |
| 10 | Naft Al-Junoob | 33 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 47 | 49 | −2 | 39 | |
| 11 | Al-Najaf | 34 | 10 | 8 | 16 | 34 | 43 | −9 | 38 | |
| 12 | Karbala | 34 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 40 | 49 | −9 | 37 | |
| 13 | Masafi Al-Wasat | 34 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 27 | 39 | −12 | 37 | |
| 14 | Al-Talaba | 34 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 35 | 47 | −12 | 35 | |
| 15 | Al-Kahrabaa (R) | 33 | 9 | 7 | 17 | 30 | 49 | −19 | 34 | Relegation to the Iraqi First Division League |
| 16 | Sulaymaniya (R) | 34 | 9 | 7 | 18 | 37 | 60 | −23 | 34 | Relegation to the Iraqi First Division League |
| 17 | Al-Sinaa (R) | 34 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 23 | 46 | −23 | 25 | Relegation to the Iraqi First Division League |
| 18 | Kirkuk (R) | 34 | 4 | 6 | 24 | 17 | 74 | −57 | 18 | Relegation to the Iraqi First Division League |
* 1 2 Al-Kahrabaa and Naft Al-Junoob refused to play each other in round 25 after the hospitalisation of Karbala's coach Mohammed Abbas Al-Jabouri. On July 27, before round 30, the IFA decided not to deduct either team any points.

## Results

| Home \ Away | KAH | MIN | NFT | NJF | QWJ | SHR | SIN | TLB | ZWR | BGD | DUH | ERB | KRB | KRK | MAS | NFJ | SUL | ZAK |
| Al-Kahrabaa | | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–5 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | – | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Al-Minaa | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 4–4 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 5–2 | 2–1 |
| Al-Naft | 1–2 | 2–1 | | 4–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| Al-Najaf | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 1–1 |
| Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 3–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Al-Shorta | 0–0 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 4–1 | | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4–3 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 2–0 |
| Al-Sinaa | 1–1 | 0–6 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Al-Talaba | 2–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 2–1 | | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–3 |
| Al-Zawraa | 1–0 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 7–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 4–1 |
| Baghdad | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 |
| Duhok | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–0 | | 1–2 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 4–0 | 2–2 |
| Erbil | 2–1 | 8–1 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | | 3–0 | 6–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 |
| Karbala | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 4–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 |
| Kirkuk | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 0–1 | | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 |
| Masafi Al-Wasat | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| Naft Al-Junoob | 4–1 | 4–3 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | | 1–1 | 3–3 |
| Sulaymaniya | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 6–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | | 0–1 |
| Zakho | 6–2 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | |
* 1 2 3 4 Al-Talaba, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya and Al-Najaf were awarded 3–0 wins in round 25 because their respective opponents Sulaymaniya, Kirkuk and Amanat Baghdad all withdrew following the hospitalisation of Karbala's manager Mohammed Abbas Al-Jabouri. Meanwhile, the Al-Kahrabaa–Naft Al-Junoob match from the same round was not held as both teams refused to play the game.
* ↑ The Al-Minaa–Kirkuk match was awarded as a 3–0 win to Al-Minaa, as Kirkuk did not turn up for the game.
* ↑ The Al-Zawraa–Al-Sinaa match was awarded as a 3–0 win to Al-Zawraa, as Al-Sinaa refused to play the game in protest at the IFA reversing its punishment of Al-Zawraa fans and allowing them to attend the game.
* ↑ The Erbil–Karbala match was awarded as a 3–0 win to Erbil, as Karbala did not turn up for the game.

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Amjad Radhi | Erbil | 25 |
| 2 | Alaa Abdul-Zahra | Duhok | 20 |
| 3 | Mustafa Karim | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 18 |
| 4 | Luay Salah | Erbil | 15 |
| 5 | Mustafa Jawda | Al-Kahrabaa | 11 |
| 5 | Haidar Sabah | Al-Zawraa | 11 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Jean Michel N'Lend | Al-Shorta | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 4–1 | 18 November 2012 |
| Nasser Tallaa$^4$ | Al-Minaa | Sulaymaniya | 5–2 | 27 January 2013 |
| Amjad Radhi | Erbil | Kirkuk | 6–0 | 28 January 2013 |
| Amjad Radhi | Erbil | Al-Najaf | 4–1 | 28 February 2013 |
| Hassan Hamoud | Al-Minaa | Al-Sinaa | 6–0 | 12 April 2013 |
| Alaa Abdul-Zahra | Duhok | Kirkuk | 4–0 | 19 April 2013 |
| Emad Mohammed | Al-Zawraa | Kirkuk | 7–0 | 29 April 2013 |
| Mustafa Jawda | Al-Kahrabaa | Erbil | 3–5 | 6 May 2013 |
| Younis Shakor | Zakho | Al-Kahrabaa | 6–2 | 4 September 2013 |
| Firas Ismail | Zakho | Al-Kahrabaa | 6–2 | 4 September 2013 |

#### Notes

$^4$ Player scored 4 goals

## Media coverage

Iraqi Elite League Media Coverage :
| Country | Television Channel | Matches |
| Iraq | Al-Iraqiya Sports Channel | 3 matches per round |