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Faisali take home 34th league crown

By Aline Bannayan - May 11,2019 - Last updated at May 11,2019

AMMAN — The Jordan Professional Football League ended on the weekend concluding the 2018/19 season competition, which remained undecided until the final two weeks of the country’s leading football event.

Faisali took home their 34th title, one point ahead of Jazira, who had led throughout the competition and settled for second after beating Faisali 2-0.

Titleholders Wihdat settled for third after holding Ramtha 2-2 as the latter finished 8th. Shabab Urdun finished fourth after they were held 1-1 by Aqaba who finished 6th. Salt finished 5th after they beat Hussein 3-2. Sarih finished 7th after they beat That Ras 2-1, as the latter dropped to the First Division. Ahli scored a vital 2-1 win over Baqaa to hold on to their spot in the league as Baqaa were relegated after 18 consecutive seasons in the elite group.

Looking back at the see-saw season, Ramtha, Aqaba, Hussein were in the relegation zone but maintained their spot in the elite group as That Ras, a previous Asian Football Confederation Cup participant and 2012 Jordan Cup champ were the first to drop. Ahli, who were relegated last decade, but came back to win the Jordan Cup in 2015 and played in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) also seemed poised to drop but their final win secured their spot.

The season kicked off with league champs Wihdat beating Jordan Cup champs Jazira in the 36th Jordan Super Cup. The Jordan Cup quarters are set for May 14.

Regionally, Wihdat were knocked out of the 2018/19 AFC Champions League preliminary round.  In the AFC Cup, the second-tier Asian club competition, Jazira and Wihdat are poised to advance as Wihdat beat Lebanon’s Nijmeh 2-0 to take their Group A lead, while Jazira moved to the next round after they trounced Bahrain’s Najma 3-0 in stage 5 of the AFC Cup.

Last season, Wihdat won the league for a record 16th time. Jazira lost two competition finals conceding the 35th Jordan Super Cup to Faisali and the Jordan Football Association Shield final to Wihdat. Jazira finished runner-up in the league but made club history by winning the 38th Jordan Cup final after they last won the Jordan Cup in 1984. 

Since the league kicked off in 1944, Faisali are record 34-time winners, while Wihdat were crowned champs 16 times since they joined in 1980.

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