The 1st Baghdad Championship () was the first occurrence of the tournament since it was renamed from its previous name of Umm al-Ma'arik Championship. It was organised by the Iraq Football Association. The top eight teams in the league table at the end of round 27 of the cancelled 2002âÂÂ03 Iraqi First Division League competed in the tournament.
The competition started on 1 October 2003, with the third place match being cancelled and the final being postponed to 5 January 2004 for security reasons due to crowd trouble that occurred in the semi-finals. In the final, held at Al-Zawraa Stadium, Al-Zawraa defeated Al-Talaba 5âÂÂ4 on penalties after a 2âÂÂ2 draw that saw three red cards. This turned out to be the last edition of the tournament.