| Organiser(s) | Iraq Football Association |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1991 |
| Abolished | 2004 |
| Region | Iraq |
| Teams | 8 (from1994–95) |
| Last champions | Al-Zawraa (3rd title) |
| Most championships | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Al-Shorta Al-Talaba Al-Zawraa (3 titles each) |
TheBaghdad Championship (Arabic:بطولة بغداد), formerly known as theUmm al-Ma'arik Championship (Arabic:بطولة أم المعارك,lit. 'Mother of all Battles Championship'), was an annualfootball competition in men's domesticIraqi football that was usually held at the beginning of each season. It was founded in the1991–92 season, and its last edition was in the2003–04 season.
The top eight teams of the previousIraqi Premier League season entered the competition, with the exception of thefirst andthird editions, where the top six teams of the league entered.[1] The teams were split into two groups, and the top two teams from each group advanced to the semi-finals. The winners would contest the final, and the losers would play for third place. All of the competition's matches were played inBaghdad.
The tournament was one of the four major domestic trophies attainable by top-flight teams at the time, alongside the league championship, theIraq FA Cup and theIraqi Perseverance Cup. In the first edition, the winners received a 7kIQD prize money, while the runners-up received 5k IQD.[2] In the second edition, because of the economical changes that accrued on the dinar, the winners were given 150k IQD and the runners-up were given 100k IQD.[3]
The idea of this tournament was requested by the administration ofAl-Talaba SC to theIraq Football Association and it was to put the top six teams of the1990–91 Iraqi National League in a single-elimination competition, because of the lack of Iraqi competitions other than theIraqi National League and theIraq FA Cup. The Iraq FA accepted the request on 24 August 1991, and put up a committee to administrate the competition, which decided to name the tournament as the Umm al-Ma'arik Championship (referring to the name thatSaddam Hussein referred to theGulf War as)[4] and to make 2 September the opening date.[2] Over 55,000 spectators came toAl-Shaab Stadium, a ground that could only hold 50,000 at the time, to watch the cup final betweenAl-Zawraa andAl-Quwa Al-Jawiya,[2] which ended with a 3–1 win for Al-Zawraa.[5] After the first edition of the competition that was set up by Al-Talaba, the Iraq Football Association adopted the competition due to its promising reception from fans, and increased the number of participating teams from six to eight.[1]
Due to the end of the rule of the former presidentSaddam Hussein in April 2003, theIraq Football Association decided to change the competition's name from Umm al-Ma'arik Championship to Baghdad Championship due to the former name's resemblance to theGulf War.[6] It was named the Baghdad Championship because all of the competition's matches were played in Baghdad, being divided betweenAl-Shorta Stadium,Al-Karkh Stadium,Al-Zawraa Stadium, andAl-Sinaa Stadium. It ended withAl-Zawraa winning the championship.[7] This was the first and last edition of the Baghdad Championship, as the tournament was discontinued after that season.[8]
| Ed. | Season | Final | Third place playoff or losing semi-finalists | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Score | Runners-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place | ||||
| Umm al-Ma'arik Championship | |||||||||
| 1st | 1991–92 | Al-Zawraa | 3–1 (a.e.t.) | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | Al-Talaba | 2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–3p) | Al-Karkh | ||
| 2nd | 1992–93 | Al-Talaba | 1–0 (a.e.t.) | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | Al-Zawraa | 4–0 | Al-Naft | ||
| 3rd | 1993–94 | Al-Talaba | 2–1 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | Al-Zawraa | 1–0 | Al-Karkh | ||
| 4th | 1994–95 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–3p) | Al-Talaba | Al-Zawraa | 2–1 | Al-Najaf | ||
| 5th | 1995–96 | Al-Talaba | 1–0 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | Al-Zawraa | 3–0 | Al-Naft | ||
| 6th | 1996–97 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 1–0 (g.g.) | Al-Zawraa | Al-Najaf | 1–0 | Al-Shorta | ||
| 7th | 1997–98 | Al-Najaf | 4–0 | Al-Shorta | Al-Zawraa | 7–0 | Al-Talaba | ||
| 8th | 1998–99 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 3–0 | Al-Naft | Al-Talaba | 3–1 | Al-Minaa | ||
| 9th | 1999–2000 | Al-Zawraa | 2–0 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | Al-Karkh | 3–0 | Al-Talaba | ||
| 10th | 2000–01 | Al-Shorta | 1–0 | Al-Zawraa | Al-Karkh | 2–1 | Al-Talaba | ||
| 11th | 2001–02 | Al-Shorta | 1–0 (g.g.) | Al-Talaba | Al-Karkh | 2–1 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | ||
| 12th | 2002–03 | Al-Shorta | 1–0 | Al-Talaba | Al-Zawraa | 2–1 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | ||
| Baghdad Championship | |||||||||
| 1st | 2003–04 | Al-Zawraa | 2–2 (a.e.t.) (5–4p) | Al-Talaba | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya andAl-Shorta | ||||
| Team | Winners | Runners-up | Winning seasons | Runner-up seasons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 3 | 5 | 1994–95,1996–97,1998–99 | 1991–92,1992–93,1993–94,1995–96,1999–2000 |
| Al-Talaba | 3 | 4 | 1992–93,1993–94,1995–96 | 1994–95,2001–02,2002–03,2003–04 |
| Al-Zawraa | 3 | 2 | 1991–92,1999–2000,2003–04 | 1996–97,2000–01 |
| Al-Shorta | 3 | 1 | 2000–01,2001–02,2002–03 | 1997–98 |
| Al-Najaf | 1 | 0 | 1997–98 | – |
| Al-Naft | 0 | 1 | – | 1998–99 |
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