Turbulent Lebanese Premier League season ends, but what next for Lebanon?

RIYADH: After nearly 11 months, the Lebanese Premier League has finally come to an end but no one envisioned it would take this long when newly-promoted Jwayya defeated Bourj 3-0 on the opening day back in September.

But with the Lebanese Football Association forced to halt football in late February due to the conflict in the country, simply reaching a conclusion is being treated as an achievement in itself.

What was initially supposed to be a short break was extended further by Israel’s invasion of south Lebanon, which led to the LFA freezing all footballing activity until the end of April.

A short exhibition, the National Solidarity Tournament, was held in May to give players a chance to prepare, before the league itself resumed on June 11.

Yet even as Ansar lifted their 16th title, the loudest voices around the season were not celebrating. Ansar President Nabil Badr came out with scathing statements on MTV Lebanon in a podcast before the game on July 29.

“We’re at a point where a quarter of the world’s national teams are playing in the World Cup. Lebanon can’t even dream about that, and it’s because of the way we manage our football domestically,” he said.

He went on to criticize the LFA’s absence, arguing that major clubs are left to shoulder the burden of maintaining their own facilities, and that mismanagement of the domestic game — not just its geopolitical circumstances — is destroying Lebanese football at every level.

It is a sentiment shared by the nation’s own fans.

“Honestly, the league has never felt like it’s trying to earn your attention. The infrastructure isn’t there, artificial pitches, poor presentation, no real broadcast culture around it,” Anthony Raad, Lebanese football storyteller and