Iraqi Elite Cup
| Founded | 1991 |
|---|---|
| Abolished | 2003 |
| Region | Iraq |
| Number of teams | 8 (from 1994) |
| Last champions |
Al-Zawraa (3rd title) |
| Most successful club(s) |
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Al-Shorta Al-Talaba Al-Zawraa (3 titles each) |
The Iraqi Elite Cup (Arabic: كأس النخبة), known officially as the Baghdad Championship (Arabic: بطولة بغداد) and previously known as the Umm Al Ma'arik Cup (Arabic: كأس أم المعارك, meaning Mother of All Battles Cup, referring to the name that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein referred to the Gulf War as) was an annual football competition in men's domestic Iraqi football that was held at the beginning of each season. It was founded in 1991, and its last ever edition was in 2003. The entire tournament was played at once before the league season began, except for the 2001 edition that was played midway through the league season.
The top eight teams of the previous Iraqi Premier League season entered the competition, with the exception of the 1991 and 1993 editions, where the top six teams of the league entered. 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.
Although the cup was one of the four major domestic trophies attainable by top-flight teams at the time, it was perceived by larger clubs as being of a lower priority to the league championship and the Iraq FA Cup. In the first edition, the winners received a 7k IQD prize money, while the runners-up received 5k IQD. 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.
The idea of this cup was requested by the administration of Al-Talaba SC to the Iraq Football Association and it was to put the top six teams of the 1990–91 Iraqi National League in a single-elimination competition, because of the lack of Iraqi competitions other than the then-called Iraqi National League and the Iraq FA Cup. The Iraq FA accepted the request on 24 August 1991, and put up a committee to administrate the competition, which decided to make 2 September the opening date. Over 55,000 spectators came to Al-Shaab Stadium, a ground that can only hold 45,000, to watch the cup final between Al-Zawraa and Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, which ended with a 3-1 win for Al-Zawraa. After the first edition of the cup 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.
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