Football Association of Maldives (FAM) has confirmed a new start date for the Maldives football season, which has been delayed for over a year due to the suspension of official club tournaments.
Football Association of Maldives (FAM) has confirmed a new start date for the Maldives football season, which has been delayed for over a year due to the suspension of official club tournaments.
The season opener, the Charity Shield, will now take place on April 8, followed by the start of the Dhivehi Premier League on April 10.
Initially, FAM had informally planned to start the season later this month, but the change was made in collaboration with football clubs.
Former Chairman of the FAM Normalization Committee, Ahmed Zuhoor, had previously indicated that the season would begin later this month.
However, after FIFA reduced the number of normalization committee members to three, Zuhoor was removed from his position, and committee member Ahmed Ali resigned.
Sports Minister Abdulla Rafiu, along with former Prosecutor General Ahmed Muizzu and other Normalization Committee members, met with the heads of Dhivehi League clubs on Friday.
The Sports Ministry shared on social media that Minister Rafiu discussed the season’s start with the clubs. Additionally, MVR 5 million was deposited into the accounts of 10 clubs, with MVR 500,000 allocated to each.
Despite the financial support, many clubs are still facing significant debt. Only Maziya has begun pre-season training for the upcoming season, while Buru Sports and Odi Sports both active in the transfer market, have not started training yet. The other seven clubs have shown limited activity in senior division football.
Although club football is on hold, March will be a crucial month for the Maldives national team.
The Asian Cup qualifying round will kick off on March 25, with the first match against the Philippines to be played in the Philippines.
The Maldives will also play a friendly match against India on March 19 in preparation for the qualifier.
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