About Qatar Stars League
Qatar Stars League History, Format, Organization, Media Coverage
The Qatar Stars League, also known as the QSL and previously known as the Q-League, is Qatar’s top-flight football division. Run by the Qatar Football Association (QFA), the competition was founded in 1963 but the first official season took place nine years later in 1972.
The league has experienced several changes throughout its history, starting with the number of clubs playing in this competition. The first editions of the league were played by nine teams before the league was expanded to twelve teams ahead of the 2009-10 campaign. In 2013, the number of participants went up again, this time reaching 14, before eventually returning to 12 in 2017.
The Qatar Stars League season typically kicks off in late August or early September as the weather in the region starts to cool, and it operates under a relegation-promotion system, with a round-robin format also in place. The two last placed teams get demoted to the Qatari Second Division while the top placed teams (2-3 teams, depending on Qatar’s performance coefficient) earn qualification to the AFC Champions League, Asia’s premier continental club competition.
