The 1988–89 Yugoslav First League season was the 43rd season of the First Federal League (Serbo-Croatian: Prva savezna liga), the top level association football competition of SFR Yugoslavia, since its establishment in 1946.
Following a two-month winter break, the season resumed on 26 February 1989 and ran until 4 June 1989.
The season saw the introduction of a new way of awarding points when a league match ends in a draw.
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'.