Players from FC Bint Jbeil and Riyadi Abassiyé competing during the 2023/2024 Lebanese 2nd Division season in March 2024. (Credit: João Sousa/L’Orient Today)
The Lebanese Football Association (LFA) will resume all matches for its affiliated tournaments at the beginning of next year, the governing body announced Friday in a statement, days after a ceasefire was declared between Israel and Hezbollah.
In late September, the LFA had postponed all affiliated football matches for the 2024/2025 season indefinitely following the Israeli military's massive offensive on Lebanon, launched on September 23 after a year of attritional war with Hezbollah.
"The Executive Committee of the Lebanese Football Association decided during its Friday meeting to restart all football activities and tournaments starting in the new year, 2025," the LFA stated.
The 2024/2025 Lebanese Premier League season officially began on Sept. 22 with the first day of matches but was abruptly halted the following day. Since then, most Lebanese clubs have remained inactive, except for defending champion Nejmeh, which participated in the group stage of the AFC Challenge Cup, one of Asia’s two club competitions.
At Least 16 Club Members Killed by Israel
The national men’s team played two friendly matches in Thailand (0-0 against Thailand, 3-2 against Myanmar). Even before the war began, the team was forced to play home matches outside Lebanon due to the lack of international-standard pitches.
Some clubs have borne heavy losses during the two months of open warfare, including Baalbeck’s "Tajamo' Chabab" team. The Bekaa club mourned two players killed in Israeli raids: Moustafa Gharib, killed on March 12 in Ansar, and Malek Moussaoui, killed on Oct. 25 in Nabi Sheet, where the team photographer, Ahmad Amouri, also lost his life.
More recently, Celine Haidar, a young midfielder for Beirut Football Academy (BFA) and the national team, was critically injured in the head by flying debris in Chiyah, southern Beirut, following an Israeli airstrike on Nov. 16. The 19-year-old successfully underwent cranial surgery but remains in a coma at the Orthodox Hospital in Beirut.
According to our tally, at least 16 football players or club members have been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since Oct. 8, 2023, with several others injured.
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.
