The 2022–23 Lebanese Premier League was the 61st season of the Lebanese Premier League, the top Lebanese league for football clubs since its establishment in 1934. The league started on 2 September 2022,[1] and ended on 12 March 2023.
It was the third season to feature a "split" format, following its introduction in the 2020–21 season, in which the season was divided into two phases. Ahed won their second consecutive title, and ninth overall. Akhaa Ahli Aley and Salam Zgharta were relegated to the Lebanese Second Division.
Each club had to involve two players under the age of 21 for at least 2,000 combined minutes, and three players for 3,000 combined minutes.[2] Also, each club was allowed a maximum of eight players over the age of 30, with only five being able to be fielded in a game.[3] In case a club was 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.[3]
For the first time since the cancelled 2019–20 season, each club could have three foreign players under contract.[2]
Following its introduction in the 2020–21 season, the 2022–23 season consisted of two phases: in the first phase, each team played against one another once.[4] In the second phase, the 12 teams were divided into two groups based on their position in the first phase. Contrary to the previous season, the teams only carried over half of their point tally from the first phase.[2] 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.[5]
The top six teams played against each other twice;[4] the champion automatically qualifies to the 2023–24 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs—assuming they meet the criteria set by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).[6] The runners-up instead directly qualified to the 2023–24 AFC Cup group stage—as long as the champions meet the AFC criteria for the AFC Champions League.[4] The bottom six teams also played against each other twice, with the bottom two teams being relegated to the Lebanese Second Division.[4]
Twelve teams competed in the league – the top ten teams from the 2021–22 Lebanese Premier League season and the two teams promoted from the Lebanese Second Division.
Lebanese clubs were allowed to have three foreign players at their disposal at any time, as well as two extra Palestinian players born in Lebanon in a given match sheet (both of whom could not be fielded at the same time in a match).[7] Moreover, each club competing in an AFC competition was allowed to field one extra foreign player, to be only played in continental matches, as the AFC allowed four foreign players to play in the starting eleven (one of whom from an AFC country).[8]
