Superliga (Albania)

Superliga (Albania) (Kategoria Superiore, commercially known as Abissnet Superiore) - the top professional club division of Albania under the Albanian Football Association. Regulations: 10 clubs take part, the regular season is played in four round-robin cycles on a home-and-away basis, with each team facing every opponent four times (36 matches). Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss, teams are ranked by points and, if level, the tie-breakers apply in order as head-to-head points, head-to-head goal difference, overall goal difference and goals scored, then drawing of lots. After the regular season the top four qualify for the “Final 4”, starting that phase with their regular-season points halved and rounded down, and playing 6 matches on a seeding schedule (1 v 4 and 2 v 3 first, then fixtures by seeding). The “Final 4” table decides the champion and European qualification, and if teams are level on points in this phase the tie-breakers apply as points in the relevant teams’ meetings across the season including “Final 4”, then goal difference in those meetings, then overall goal difference and goals scored across the season including “Final 4”, then drawing of lots. The “Final 4” winner enters UEFA Champions League qualifying, the teams placed 2nd and 3rd in the “Final 4” enter UEFA Conference League qualifying, the Albanian Cup winner enters UEFA Conference League qualifying, and if the cup winner is also in the top three of the “Final 4” the European place passes to the next best-ranked club. The clubs finishing 9th and 10th are relegated to Kategoria e Pare, and the 8th-placed club plays a one-off relegation play-off against the winner of the promotion play-off from Kategoria e Pare.