Skip links
Skip to Content
play
Live
Show navigation menu
Navigation menu
News
Show more news sections
Middle East
Africa
Asia
US & Canada
Latin America
Europe
Asia Pacific
Israel War on Gaza
Features
Opinion
Video
More
Show more sections
Economy
Ukraine war
Coronavirus
Climate Crisis
Investigations
Interactives
In Pictures
Science & Technology
Sport
Podcasts
play
Live
Click here to search
search
In Pictures
Gallery
In Pictures: Afghanistan’s football league
Afghanistan’s inaugural Premier League proves a hit with fans across the country.
The inaugural Afghan Premier League reached its finale on Friday when Herat(***)s Toofan Harirod beat Mazar-e-Sharif(***)s Simorgh Alborz 2-1 to become league champions [AFP]
Published On 20 Oct 2012
20 Oct 2012
facebook
twitter
whatsapp
copylink
Over 5,000 thousand fans crammed into the Kabul stadium to watch the final which took place near the notorious Ghazi stadium where the Taliban held public executions [AFP]
The six-week tournament pitted eight teams from across the nation against each other. All of Afghanistan(***)s 34 provinces were represented in the tournament, which was broadcast live on television and radio [AFP]
"We(***)ve come a long way from Herat to cheer for our team," one fan told Al Jazeera(***)s Bernard Smith. "More than a thousand of us have made this journey." [AFP]
With 65 per cent of the population under 25, organisers see young people as the driving force behind the league(***)s success. "They [young people] are lovers of sport and lovers of football and that is what we see today", league organiser Said Safiq Gawhari told Al Jazeera. [AFP]
"Football is helping these boys by providing a platform for youths to have something to turn to besides drug addiction or joining the insurgency," said Afghan Football Federation official Ali Askar Lali [AFP]
The prize money is not bad either - $15,000 dollars for the winning team, which is a lot for the players – selected through a reality TV show – who have been earning $10 a day [AFP]
National hero Rohullah Nikpai, a Taekwondo Olympian who won bronze medals in Beijing and London was on hand to dish out the golden football shoe trophy to the winning team [AFP]
And in an historic moment, earlier in the evening two Kabul-based women(***)s teams made up of national squad members played in front of the largest ever crowd for a women(***)s match on Afghan soil [AFP]