Although the championship has been contested since 1966, the structure has changed over time, and a number of years the competition has been canceled or shortened. In 2002, the league was completely cancelled. Since the 1990s, the clubs compete in a group stage, the winners of which advance to the "Super League" which contests the second half of the season, with the losers contesting a league to determine what clubs will be relegated to the
Regional leagues. The Leagues in each of the Nigerien regions (called the
Nigerien D2 Championships) then send champions to a play-off to determine which two clubs will be promoted. The
Ligue de Niamey has been powerful enough that, after disputes over relegation on 2000, five Niamey clubs formed their own rival competition (the "Coupe des Sponsors"), and played only the Ligue de Niamey championship in the 2002 season, when the
Nigerien Football Federation cancelled the season due to funding shortfalls. ==2021−22 Super Ligue teams==