Founded | 2021 |
---|---|
Country | Afghanistan |
Confederation | AFC |
Number of teams | 12 |
Level on pyramid | 1 |
International cup(s) | AFC Challenge League |
Current champions | Attack Energy SC (1) (2022) |
Most championships | Attack Energy Sorkh Poshan (1 title) |
TV partners | Ariana Television Network |
Current: 2024 Afghanistan Champions League |
The Afghanistan Champions League is a professional men's football league run by the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF). It is the country's primary competition for the sport. The competition commenced in 2021. [1] The league is currently contested by twelve teams. National champion gains qualification into the continental competition, AFC Challenge League.
The Afghanistan Champions League was established in 2021 replacing the Afghan Premier League. [2] [1] The league consisted of clubs that were runners up or winners of their provincial leagues. 12 teams from 6 zones contested the league, and the matches were held in Kabul, Herat and Balkh provinces. Results and standings of the season can be found on the official facebook page. [3] [4]
In the second 2022 season, [5] Abu Muslim club came second after Attack Energy by 4 points. The two of 12 clubs finished without any defeat. [6] [7] [8] [9] During the Champions League games, the teams of Attack Energy and Abu Muslim played against each other, and this match ended with a result of 1–1. [10]
In 2023, the league was not held due to financial crisis as FIFA had not sent the budget to the Afghanistan Football Federation since early 2023 due to political changes and the Taliban's presence within Afghan football, violating FIFA regulations, and after the remaining funds in the account of the Afghanistan Football Federation ended in 2022. [11] [12]
In January 2024, the Afghanistan Football Federation announced the return of the league after Ramadan on 20 April. [13] [14] [15]
Year | Winner | Runners-up | Top Scorers (golden boot) | Goals |
---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | Sorkh Poshan | Istiqlal | N/A | N/A |
2022 | Attack Energy | Abu Muslim | N/A | N/A |
Club | Wins | Winning years |
---|---|---|
Attack Energy | 1 | 2022 |
Sorkh Poshan | 1 | 2021 |
The following 12 clubs will competed in the 2024 Afghanistan Champions League season: [16]
In April 2024, Ariana Television Network signed a deal with the Afghanistan Football Federation to broadcast the third season of the Afghanistan Champions League live, legally and exclusively. [16] The league was sponsored by Victor Energy Drink. [16]
The Afghanistan national football team is the national football team of Afghanistan and is controlled by the Afghanistan Football Federation. Founded in 1922, they played their first international game against Iran in Kabul, 1941. Afghanistan then joined FIFA in 1948 and the AFC in 1954, as one of the founding members. They play their home games at the Ghazi National Olympic Stadium in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. In 2013, Afghanistan won the 2013 SAFF Championship and earned the "FIFA Fair Play Award". Afghanistan has never qualified for the AFC Asian Cup.
Farhad Darya is an Afghan singer, composer, music producer, and philanthropist. Active since the 1980s, Darya has been one of the most renowned and influential Afghan pop musicians of the modern era, contributing to establishing new wave in Afghanistan and blending urban and rural styles. Darya's career has spanned multiple genres - including semi-classical ghazal, pop, folk, and rock - as well as both his native languages Dari Persian and Pashto as well as Uzbek, Hindi and English.
Persepolis Football Club is an Iranian professional football club based in Tehran that competes in the Persian Gulf Pro League. Persepolis F.C. is the football club of the multisport Persepolis Athletic and Cultural Club. The club is owned by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. There have been many attempts to privatise the club, which have been without success due to the large debt the club has accumulated.
The Iranian Super Cup is an Iranian association football trophy awarded to the winner of a match between the Persian Gulf Pro League's season champion and the winner of the Hazfi Cup. It is similar to numerous other Super Cup tournaments held in other countries.
The Kabul Premier League, also known as Kabul City League, was the first domestic football club league in Afghanistan. It was established in 1946, comprising 12 clubs. Other regional or city leagues existed in the 1970s in Herat, Kandahar and Mazar-i-Sharif. The main venue was the Ghazi Stadium in Kabul, and games were held on different days due to lack of stadiums. It was replaced by the Afghan Premier League.
The Iran Football award Winners is an annual association football award presented to Best Player, Coach and Referees in Iran, which recognises the most outstanding player in the Persian Gulf Pro League each season. The recipient is chosen by a panel assembled by the association football.
Pejman Jamshidi is an Iranian actor and former footballer. His performances in the films The Misunderstanding (2018), Shishlik (2021) and Grassland (2022), My Name Is Love (2023) earned him Crystal Simorgh nominations.
Lieutenant General Sayed Abdul Ghafar Sayed zadah, is an Afghan Lieutenant general. He served for more than 30 years in policing in Afghanistan; currently he is serving as General Chief of Herat police headquarters.
The 2012–13 season are the Esteghlal Football Club's 12th season in the Iran Pro League, and their 19th consecutive season in the top division of Iranian football. They are also competing in the Hazfi Cup and AFC Champions League, and 68th year in existence as a football club.
The 2017–18 Persian Gulf Pro League was the 35th season of Iran's Football League and 17th as Persian Gulf Pro League since its establishment in 2001. Persepolis were the defending champions. The season featured 14 teams from the 2016–17 Persian Gulf Pro League and two new teams promoted from the 2016–17 Azadegan League: Pars Jonoubi Jam as champions and Sepidrood. The league started on 27 July 2017 and ended on 27 April 2018. Persepolis won the Pro League title for the fourth time in their history, a total 11th Iranian title.
Sanaullah Ghafari, better known under his nom de guerre, Shahab al-Muhajir is an Afghan militant who is serving as the Emir of the Islamic State's Khorasan Province (ISIS–K) since 2020.
Mohsen Rezaee is an Afghan taekwondo practitioner and member of the national taekwondo team in Afghanistan.
Abdulghafour Arezou is an Afghan writer, poet, Bīdelšinās, former ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to Tajikistan and former university professor. By 2014 he had written more than 40 books about Persian poetry and literature, culture, and politics and was called one of the most prominent writers of modern Afghanistan by the former president of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani. For his contribution to culture and language, he was awarded the medal of Ghazi Mir Bacha Khan kohdamani and the Abolghasem Ferdowsi's artistic cultural emblem.
Attack Energy SC is an Afghan association football club from Herat that currently plays in the Afghanistan Champions League. The club is managed by former Afghan international Ali Yarzada.
Abu Muslim Football Club is an Afghan association football club from Farah that currently plays in the Afghanistan Champions League.
The 2022 Afghanistan Champions League was the second season of Afghanistan Champions League, the Afghan league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2021. The season began on 6 November 2022 and ended on 9 December 2022. Attack Energy head into the season as the champions. Azadi Club and Atalan Club were relegated into the end of the season.
The 2024 Afghanistan Champions League will be the third season of Afghanistan Champions League, the Afghan league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2021. The season will begin on 20 April 2024. Twelve clubs will participate for a total of sixty-six matches. All matches will be played at the 5,000-seat Afghanistan Football Federation Stadium in Kabul. 2022 season champions Attack Energy SC are the reigning champions after the league was not held in 2023 because of lack of funding.