APL

Shaheen Asmayee and De Maiwand Atalan will meet in the final game of Afghanistan’s most exciting and biggest event to date. The Roshan Afghan Premier League (RAPL) kicked off its 2016 Championship tournament at the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) stadium on Thursday, August 25th 2016. Eight teams representing all 34 provinces in Afghanistan competed against each other in the group stage of the tournament, with Shaheen Asmayee, Simorgh Alborz, Mawjhai Amu and De Maiwand Atalan advancing to the Semi-finals. Afghan football fans were enthralled by hard fought and outstanding playing from all qualifying teams.  Shaheen Asmayee and De Maiwand Atalan emerged victorious from the Semi-finals and will face-off in the final match of the RAPL 2016 Championship.  The two finalists will compete for the Championship cup on Friday, September 30th 2016, with the opening whistle scheduled for 3:00 pm local time, following a women’s friendly match in the morning on the final day of RAPL 2016 season.  RAPL has allocated cash prizes for the winner, runner-up, third, and fourth positioned teams of the RAPL 2016 Championship tournament.

Mr. Zia Aria, RAPL Deputy Commissioner; Mr. Yusuf Kargar, Deputy Technical Director of AFF;  Mr. Shafi Sharifi, Roshan Public Affairs Director; Mr. Arash Barez, Pamir Group representative; Mr. Mujtaba Faiz, Shaheen Asmayee Coach; and Mr. Wahidullah Wahidi, De Maiwand Atalan Coach attended the event to brief media and stakeholders on the RAPL 2016 final match. 

“RAPL team has taken all the preparations to launch the final match of 5th season,” said Zia Aria, RAPL deputy commissioner. He appreciated the work and efforts of AFF, Roshan, Pamir Group, coaches and player, and all involved personal who have been supportive to RAPL 2016. 

“We will make sure to provide all the required technical support in the RAPL 2016 final,” stated Yusuf Kargar, Deputy Technical Director of AFF. Addressing the referee’s mistake in the semi-final game of Mawjhai Amu against De Maiwand Atala, Kargar added that mistakes were not major and are part of the game; however, AFF will make sure to avoid further mistakes in the final day. 

Responding to journalists’ questions, Shaheen Asmayee coach, Mujtaba Faiz stated “Despite of lacking a number of key players in the line-up, Shaheen will not face any challenge and will etch its name on RAPL 2016 cup. We have played and tried different formations in the past five games. Probably, we will go to final with 4-4-2 formation.” 

On the other hand, Wahidullah Wahidi, De Maiwand Atalan coach, assured the team’s fan of preparations and motivation to stand as RAPL 2016 champions.” We analyzed and worked on all defects that we had in the previous games,” he added. 

An estimated 57% of all Afghans (at least 18.6 million viewers) in the country, as well as Afghans around the world (via the RAPL’s YouTube channel), will watch the 2016 Championship match between Shaheen Asmayee and De Maiwand Atalan.