Football in Libya Information & Football in Libya Links at HealthHaven.com

Football is the national sport in Libya, the North African country with a population of around 6,000,000. The governing body is the Libyan Football Federation, which was founded in 1962.

[edit] National Championships

Prior to national championships, football was held at regional level. There were three regional leagues: West, East and South. The first regional championships were held in 1918.

[edit] Libyan Premier League

This is the top flight of Libyan football. This is a semi-professional league, although some foreign players are professionals. The first championship was held in 1963, and was won by Al Ahly Tripoli. (see Libyan Premier League 1963-64) Al Ittihad have won the most championships, with 14, including the last 4 titles.

The league is ranked as the 63rd best league in the world for 2008, according to IFFHS^[1], ranking above leagues such as the Norweigan Tippeligaen, the American MLS and the Chinese Super League.

There are two other divisions, the Libyan Second Division, and the Libyan Third Division.

[edit] Libyan Cup

This competition was first initiated in 1976, although only 5 editions of the competition were played in the following twenty years. In the past, the runners-up of the Libyan Premier League were named the domestic cup champions. Al Ahly Tripoli and Al Ittihad Tripoli are the joint record winners, with 5 titles each. The holders are Khaleej Sirt, who beat Al Madina Tripoli 1-0 in a tense final (see 2008 Libyan Al-Fatih Cup Final)

[edit] Libyan Trophy

This competition was initiated in 2007. It is contested by members of the Premier League only. Khaleej Sirt won the inaugural competition.

[edit] National Team

Main article: Libya national football team

The national team, nicknamed The Greens, is currently ranked 78th in the world^[2], above such sides as Belarus, Iceland, Togo and Qatar. They had their most successful period in the 1980s, when such players as Salim Abu Jarrad, Fawzi al Issawi and Ali al Beshari almost led the side to silverware. In 1982, Libya hosted the 1982 African Cup of Nations, a competition in which they came second, losing 7-6 to Ghana on penalty kicks. The team was also very close to qualifying for the 1986 FIFA World Cup, where they lost 3-1 to Morocco over two legs.

The 1990s was a poor period for the national team. Libya was disqualified from qualifying for the 1994 FIFA World Cup due to UN sanctions, and the team withdrew from qualifying for the 1990 competition. They did not enter the qualification process for the 1998 edition. They did do better in UAFA competitions, bowing out in the semi finals of the 1999 Pan Arab Games, and

The 2000s were better for the nation, and with players such as Tarik El Taib, Nader Kara and Ahmad Saad coming through, the national team grew in strength, and did get to the final round of qualifying for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Although they finished bottom of the group with two points from 8 games, the country did have a sense of pride, and came back stronger, coming within a point of qualification for the 2004 African Cup of Nations. Two years later, the side did get to its second Nations tournament, having finished fourth in their 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification group. The side did well in their group, which did contain the two finalists, Ivory Coast and the winners Egypt, as well as the 2004 African Cup of Nations runners-up Morocco. A 3-0 defeat to Egypt crippled their chances, and the team got respectable results, including a 2-1 defeat against the Ivory Coast, and a 0-0 draw against Morocco. The team did suffer a setback in qualification for the African Cup of Nations 2008 tournament. The side suffered disappointing away defeats against Ethiopia and Namibia, which ruined their chances of qualifying.

The club came very close to qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The team secured a famous victory against Ghana, with an 86th-minute goal from Ahmed Saad Osman, but fell at the final hurdle, losing 1-0 to Gabon, which eliminated them on goal difference.

[edit] References

[0] ttp://www.iffhs.de/?b6e28fa3002f71504e52d17f7370eff3702bb1c2bb11

[1] ttp://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranking/lastranking/gender=m/fullranking.html#confederation=0&rank=177&page=2

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