Competition
There are 14 clubs in the league. At the end of each season, the two lowest-placed teams are relegated to Liga Leumit while two highest-placed teams of Liga Leumit are promoted in their place. For the 2012–13 season the league was decreased from 16 to 14 clubs as a result of reforms passed by the IFA on 27 June 2011.
The participating clubs are first play a conventional round-robin schedule for a total of 26 matches.
Following this, the top six teams first play in a championship playoff. To determine the champion. Then the six clubs play each team twice. Upon its conclusion, the first place team wins the Israeli championship and qualifies to participate in the second qualifying round of the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League. The runners-up and the third-placed teams qualify for the second qualifying round round of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League.
The Israeli State Cup winners qualify for the third qualifying round of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League. If the State Cup winners finish in the league top three places than the fourth-placed team will also play in Europa League. In case the State Cup winners also wins the Israeli Premier League than the second-placed league team will play in Europa League third qualifying round and the fourth-placed league team would play in the Second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.
In addition, the bottom eight teams will play each other once to avoid two relegation spots.
Read more about this topic: Israeli Premier League
Famous quotes containing the word competition:
“Mothers seem to be in subtle competition with teachers. There is always an underlying fear that teachers will do a better job than they have done with their child.... But mostly mothers feel that their areas of competence are very much similar to those of the teacher. In fact they feel they know their child better than anyone else and that the teacher doesn’t possess any special field of authority or expertise.”
—Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (20th century)
“Like many businessmen of genius he learned that free competition was wasteful, monopoly efficient. And so he simply set about achieving that efficient monopoly.”
—Mario Puzo (b. 1920)
“Sisters define their rivalry in terms of competition for the gold cup of parental love. It is never perceived as a cup which runneth over, rather a finite vessel from which the more one sister drinks, the less is left for the others.”
—Elizabeth Fishel (20th century)