The Cypriot Championship First Division is the highest division in Cypriot football system. Football became popular in Cyprus at the beginning of the 20th century and the Cyprus Football Association was founded in 1934. Since then the championship and cup tournament have been hold annually. After World War II the Greek Civil War followed and led to the establishment of another football association. So until 1953 two associations hold two separate championships.
In 1955 the Cyprus Turkish Football Federation was formed for political reasons nevertheless it wasn’t recognized internationally. After Cyprus gained independence in 1960, in 1962 the Cyprus Football Association became the member of UEFA.
There are 14 teams competing in the top flight. Every team plays 26 matches per year, facing each other twice. In the second round, according to the results of the previous 26 games (the total amount of points, goal difference and the number of scored goals are taken into account), the teams are separated into three groups in which here are four teams. The lowest three teams in the table relegate and the top-three teams from the second division advance to the top flight.
The champion gets a chance to compete in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, the league runner-up and third-placed teams enter the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League. The Cypriot Cup holder enters the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.
The most titled teams are APOEL and Omonia.
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