Iranian football league system

The Iranian football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for football clubs in Iran.

The current structure has been in place since 2001. The Iran Premier League (IPL) is the highest level of club football in Iran. It is also called the Persian Gulf Cup. Below it is the Azadegan League, also known as the 1st division, which consists of one twenty-team group. One level further down from that is the 2nd division which is made up of 40 teams evenly distributed into four groups. One step down, and the final nationwide league, is the 3rd division. This level has five groups and 60 teams. Each groups contains teams that are located in the same area of the nation. The final level of the football system consists of 31 provincial leagues. Local teams from each province participate in these leagues, and some of the leagues are divided into further divisions.

The system works with a promotion-relegation system, meaning that a team from the lowest level of the system can make it to the top level after a number of years. The number of teams in each league often changes from season to season, due to the lack of any professional management in the lower levels of the system. Currently the IPL is the only league that is considered professional, despite many of its rules about club facilities and management being broken. It is not uncommon for teams in the lower levels of the system to change team names because of sponsorship issues or for teams to completely withdraw from a competition.

The top four levels of the system are managed by the Iranian football federation, while the bottom level leagues are managed by their respective provincial football committee.

Before the early 1970s Iran did not have an official national league. Most teams would participate in city championships. Taj¹ and Persepolis² had become the two most popular teams in the mid 60s and continue to be in the present. Pas Tehran, Shahin, Taj, Daraei F.C., all won championships in the Tehran local league, during this period.

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