Iran Pro League

The Iran Pro League is a competition for the top Iranian football clubs. It was officially established in 1970 but it was not until 2001 that the league became professional and obtained its modern format, similar to that of most European championships. It was Persepolis F.C. that claimed the first ever title in the country. In 2006 the name of the tournament was changed to the Persian Gulf Cup in order to highlight the region’s name. Sepahan have been the most prolific club in the League since then.

At the beginning of the tournament’s history there were 14 teams competing for the title, but since then the number of competitors has risen to 18. They play each other two times with one match at home and one away. Three best sides of the league plus the winner of the Hazfi Cup get promotion to the Asian Champions League and three poorest ones are relegated to the Azadegan League for the following season. It is highly possible that only 16 clubs will remain in the top division for 2013/2014 season.

The Iran Pro League protects their homegrown talents with only 4 foreign players available on the pitch at a time in one squad. For some time foreign goalkeepers had also been banned from the competition. It was in 2011 when the clubs were allowed sponsorship contracts. The league has started to progress rapidly in the recent years with matches being covered on local television and internationally and more foreigners introduced to the league.

Esteghlal’s venue Azadi stadium in Tehran can sit up to 100,000 spectators and thus it is one of the biggest arenas in the world.

Sepahan are the most successful team in the history of modern Iranian football with four titles and three straight gold medals in 2009/2010, 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 seasons.