The 2012–13 Swiss Super League, also known as the Raiffeisen Super League for sponsoring purposes,[3] was the 116th season of top-tierfootball in Switzerland. It began on 14 July 2012 and ended on 2 June 2013.[4]Basel successfully defended their title.
The league comprised the best eight sides from the 2011–12 season, the 2011–12 Swiss Challenge League champions FC St. Gallen, and FC Sion, the winners of the relegation/promotion play-off between the ninth-placed Super League team and the Challenge League runners-up.
No team were relegated on competitive grounds at the end of the 2011–12 season after Neuchâtel Xamax were expelled from the league over financial irregularities midway through the campaign. The club went into administration soon afterwards and was eventually liquidated.[citation needed] Its successors Neuchâtel Xamax 1912 were subsequently inserted into the fifth-tier 2. Liga Interregional.[citation needed] Xamax were replaced by 2011–12 Challenge League champions FC St. Gallen, who immediately returned to the highest football league of Switzerland.
A further spot in the league was contested in a relegation/promotion playoff between ninth-placed FC Sion and Challenge League runners-up FC Aarau. Both teams played a two-legged series, which was won by Sion, 3–1 on aggregate. The club from Valais thus remained in the league despite having received a 36-point deduction for fielding ineligible players during the season.[6]