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:
“The praise of ancient authors proceeds not from the reverence of the dead, but from the competition and mutual envy of the living.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679)
“Playing games with agreed upon rules helps children learn to live by rules, establish the delicate balance between competition and cooperation, between fair play and justice and exploitation and abuse of these for personal gain. It helps them learn to manage the warmth of winning and the hurt of losing; it helps them to believe that there will be another chance to win the next time.”
—James P. Comer (20th century)
“All adults who care about a baby will naturally be in competition for that baby.... Each adult wishes that he or she could do each job a bit more skillfully for the infant or small child than the other.”
—T. Berry Brazelton (20th century)