2020–21 Dhivehi Premier League

The 2020–21 Dhivehi Premier League will be the 6th season of the Premier League, the top Maldivian professional league for association football clubs since its establishment in 2015. Maziya are the defending champions, having won their third league title the previous season, their second in the Premier League era, having last won in 2016. The season was initially scheduled to start in June,[1] but this was delayed until December as a consequence of the delay of the 2020 AFC Cup and 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in Asia and in the Maldives.[2]

Dhivehi Premier League
Season2020–21
DatesDecember 2020 – May 2021
2021–22 →

Teams

Initially, ten teams were set to compete in the league – the top eight teams from the previous season and the two teams promoted from the Second Division. The promoted teams are Club Valencia and Super United Sports.[3] On 22 July 2020, Football Association of Maldives announced that this season will be held with eight teams. This is due to temporarily holding off the Premier League slots for the teams promoting from the Jazeera Championship as the 2020 edition was called off due to COVID-19 pandemic in the Maldives, meaning Foakaidhoo FC and Nilandhoo Sports Club are forced to play in the 2021 Jazeera Championship even though they survived relegation.[4]

Valencia is returning after a season's absence in the first division (three seasons in Premier League). This is the first season in the Premier League for Super United Sports. They replaced Victory Sports Club and New Radiant (both teams relegated after suspension due to financial reasons.[3]

Teams and their divisions
Note: Table lists clubs in alphabetical order.
Team Division
Eagles Maafannu
Green Streets Machchangolhi
Valencia Machchangolhi
Da Grande Maafannu
Maziya West Maafannu
Super United Machchangolhi
TC Sports Club Henveiru
United Victory Galolhu

Personnel

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team Head Coach Captain Shirt sponsor
Club Eagles Mohamed Shiyaz Hussain Sifaau
Green Streets Ali Nisthar Mohamed
Valencia Ismail Asif Abdulla Midhuhath Fahmy
Da Grande Ismail Mahfooz Mohamed Rasheed
Maziya Mohamed Nizam Asadhulla Abdulla
TC Sports Ahmed Farrah
Super United
United Victory Mohamed Nazeeh

Coaching changes
Team Outgoing Head Coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming Head Coach Date of appointment
Maziya Marjan Sekulovski[5] End of contract 2 July 2020 Pre-season Mohamed Nizam[6] 21 July 2020

Foreign players
Club Visa 1 Visa 2 Visa 3 Visa 4 (Asian)
Club Eagles
Green Streets
Valencia
Da Grande
Maziya
TC Sports
Super United
United Victory

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Eagles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for 2022 AFC Cup group stage
2 Green Streets 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for 2022 AFC Cup preliminary round 2
3 Valencia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 Da Grande 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Maziya 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 Super United 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 TC Sports 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Promotion/Relegation play-off
8 United Victory 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Relegation to Maldivian Second Division
Source: Dhivehi Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Goals scored.

References
  1. "Season to start in December?". Mihaaru (in Divehi). Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  2. "New football season anticipated to start in December!". FAMaldives. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  3. Valencia makes a comeback to First Division Reejje.mv Published: Jan 15, 2020
  4. "Atoll teams slots to Premier League on hold". Mihaaru Sports (in Divehi). Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  5. "Maziya in talks with two local coaches to replace Sekulovski". Raajje.mv. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  6. "Nizambe selected as Maziya's head coach". Raajje.mv. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
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