APL

The inaugural season of the Roshan Afghan Premier League (RAPL), Afghanistan's first professional football league, was announced on 9th of July 2012 by the Afghan Football Federation (AFF) and Moby Group, the creators of RAPL. The AFF and Moby are pursuing the following main goals:

1. Sustainable development of football throughout the country.
2. Strengthening National unity and the peaceful coexistence of all groups of society, especially the Afghan youth.

The league is fully supported by the International Football Federation (FIFA) and the Asian Football Confederation. All playing rules and regulations are in accordance with those set forth by FIFA and AFC.

RAPL 2012 was the largest, most significant event ever organized in Afghanistan, transcending all geographic, ethnic, gender and language barriers.

All RAPL matches were televised LIVE on TOLO TV and Lemar; broadcast on radio stations Arman FM and Arakozia FM; streamed on YouTube, and were also available via cable TV and online at www.afghanpremierleague.com.

The creators of the RAPL are committed to build on the experience and success of the first RAPL Season and make Season 2 of RAPL, starting August 22^nd 2013, even more successful and exciting for all Afghans, inside and outside the country. A new and improved event format has been developed and consists of the following 3 phases:

• Pre Maidan e Sabz: “Regional Tournaments”
• Maidan e Sabz: “Games during the Holy Month of Ramadan”
• RAPL 2013 “ Main event”

I. Regional Tournaments:

We will expand the provincial reach and appeal of the RAPL in 2013 by establishing team selection via regional tournaments across Afghanistan. There will be 8 regional tournaments during May and June 2013, with each one featuring 4-6 selected teams from different provinces. It is worth mentioning that one team from refugees based in Iran and one team from the Afghan refugees in Pakistan will be participating in the Center and East regional tournaments, respectively.

This will give young Afghan footballers living as refugees the chance to fulfill a previously unthinkable dream – to become a RAPL player.

During each regional tournament 26 players will be selected for the APL team from that region. The 26 man roster will then be reduced to a final 18 man roster during the Maidan-e-Sabz shows in Ramadan.

II.  Maidan e Sabz during Ramadan:

In order to reduce the number of players from 26 to 18 in a transparent way the following procedure is planned:

1. The Trainer and coach from each team will announce the best 15 players out of 26 at the beginning of Ramadan.
2. During the holy month of Ramadan the 15 best players will play an intra-squad match against the 11 players who are in the danger zone.

During the Regional Tournament phase, at the end of every week’s show we will ask the TV audience to vote for their top player by position – the results of which will be taken into consideration by the judges when they are making their final decision on the rosters. This decision by the judges (Certified well-known AFF coaches) will be taken before the intra-squad matches, where they will vote for their top 3 players out of the 11 who are in the danger zone.

I. RAPL 2^nd Season Main Event:

RAPL 2^nd season will be inaugurated through a mega event at the AFF stadium on August 22^nd 2013. In order to show the RAPL group and match draw a special show will be produced for broadcast during Eid. Two additional shows are also planned to introduce the teams, trainers and coaches and to discuss group matchups.

Group Stage Tournament:

The detailed plan for the inauguration of RAPL 2013 will be available at the beginning of August 2013.

The Group Stage Tournament kicks off on Thursday 22^nd August, 2013 and will go on till Friday 27^th September, 2013 - a total of 6 weeks.

Semi Final:

The Semi Finals kick offon 3^rd October, 2013 (Thursday) and will go on till 7^th October, 2013. Each team will play twice; the two teams with highest points and scores will reach the final.

Final:

The RAPL Finale will be played out on 11^th of October, 2013. Special entertainment programs with a football village, music and circus are planned for the final; in addition a friendly game between the Afghan women’s football teams is also in the agenda.

For the above mentioned activities and events several press conferences for all local and international media will be organized. Furthermore Tolo News will broadcast daily reports on the RAPL.

Updated information about RAPL will be available on the RAPL official website www.afghanpremierleague.com as well as on all RAPL social media sites i.e. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.