The season began on 6 August 1988 with its fall part completing on 18 December 1988. Following a two-month winter break, the season resumed on 26 February 1989 and ran until 4 June 1989.
New rule: "Šajber's penalties"
The season saw the introduction of a new way of awarding points when a league match ends in a draw. Two points were still being awarded for a win, while in case of a draw at the end of the ninety minutes — penalty kicks were taken and the shootout winner was awarded one point while the loser got nothing. The 1988-89 season was the very first to feature this tie-break method, and the Yugoslav FA's decision to implement it caused a lot of criticism and controversy. The biggest proponent of the new rule was the Yugoslav FA (FSJ) president Slavko Šajber and it was often derisively referred to in the media as 'Šajber's penalties'.
Source: rsssf.org Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored. (C) Champion; (R) Relegated Notes:
^In November 1987, UEFA banned Hajduk Split from European competitions for two seasons. The immediate catalyst for the punishment was crowd trouble during the club's 1987–88 European Cup Winners' Cupsecond round return leg at home against Marseille on 5 November 1987. However, repeated prior incidents at Hajduk's European home matches throughout early-to-mid 1980s (such as the 1983–84 UEFA Cupsemifinal first leg infamous 'rooster incident' against Tottenham Hotspur) also contributed to the decision. Since Hajduk's 1987-88 Yugoslav Leagueperformance failed to qualify the club for 1988-89 European competition, the punishment was enacted for seasons when Hajduk did manage to qualify: 1989-90 and 1990-91.